Robert De Niro's 19-year-old nephew Leandro De Niro Rodriguez died after taking fentanyl pills, his heartbroken mother claims.
The young man's death is being investigated as a possible overdose after his body was discovered in a Manhattan apartment on Sunday, July 1 with a white powdery substance, police sources said.
While the toxicology report is still pending, his grieving mother, Drena De Niro, claims someone knowingly sold her son drugs.
"Someone sold him fentanyl pills that he knew were fatal but sold him anyway," Drena, 51, wrote on Instagram Tuesday in response to a comment asking about her son's cause of death.
"So to all those people who are still selling and buying this shit, I say my son is gone forever," she added.
The chief medical examiner has yet to release an official cause of death, but sources say NYPD narcotics detectives are investigating the case.
NYPD Chief James Essig told reporters last month that fentanyl is now "incorporated into probably 98% of the drugs" in the city.
"Fentanyl is in everything now, in everything," Essig said.
Meanwhile, Drena has shared several posts on Instagram after the death of her son.
"I can hardly write through tears, but all the love, messages, phone calls, e-mails, friends and family that have been with me these last 24 hours... I haven't responded yet, but we are grateful for the love and condolences," she wrote.