Robert De Niro keeps his head down as arrests are made over grandson's overdose death
Robert De Niro's grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, died from an overdose in July 2023 but the NYPD continued their investigation and have now arrested five people
Robert De Niro has been spotted for the first time since it emerged that five people have been arrested in connection to his grandson's death.
The actor, 82, was seen wearing a dark gray coat with a light gray shirt and light khaki sweats as he exited a building in New York City on Friday. The Godfather star also had dark-rimmed sunglasses and a black knit cap on while stepping out with his partner Tiffany Chen, 46, and their two-year-old daughter, Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro.
It was the first time the two-time Oscar winner was seen after five people were arrested following the death of his grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez. The 19-year-old died from an overdose on July 2, 2023, however, the New York Police Department never ceased their investigation and now may have found who was behind the drug supply.
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Leandro, who had recently graduated from an Aspen, Colorado, high school and had moved to NYC to do a Broadway internship, wasn't the only one who died after buying drugs from them. Akira Stein, the daughter of Blondie's lead guitarist Chris, also died of an overdose after taking the laced drugs.
After Leandro's death two years ago, only one individual from the criminal network was charged for their involvement. Sophia Haley Marks, an alleged drug dealer known as Percocet Princess, was charged with being the person who sold Leandro the pills.
The 20-year-old was charged with one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and alprazolam, as well as two counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl. Leandro was the oldest child of Drena De Niro and artist Carlos Mare.
A month after his death, Drena took to Instagram to address the "vicious, inaccurate hypotheses" surrounding his death. Despite the rumors, she clarified Leandro was "not forewarned" that he was taking laced drugs. However, she did admit he was "warned to 'not take too many,'" and to "be careful."
His mother said his mental health took a turn during the Covid-19 pandemic and he "suffered" tremendously. "Sadly addiction took over in the last year and eventually killed him," she said.
Drena hoped his death brought attention to the prominent topic of addiction. "As long as we keep blaming the addict and person suffering mental illness we are going to continue to see more of this," she urged.
The following year, Robert opened up about his thoughts on his grandson's "shock" death. "[I] never thought it would happen," he told People. "And I just then started thinking about all the things I could have, should have done maybe with him. I don't know if that would've made a difference. And so that's always playing through my mind."