Jury deliberates fate of Rebecca Grossman in suspected DUI crash killing 2 boys in L.A. County

Jurors are deliberating the fate of Rebecca Grossman, a Hidden Hills socialite accused of striking and killing two boys while driving intoxicated in Westlake Village.

Grossman, 60, was charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Jacob Iskander, 8, and Mark Iskander, 11, in a crosswalk in 2020.

Grossman is the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and the wife of prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman.

She faces five charges — two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.

After a day of deliberation at Van Nuys Superior Court on Thursday, a verdict after the six-week trial is expected soon.

On Sept. 29, 2020, the two boys were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk with their parents and siblings at the intersection of Triunfo Canyon Road and Saddle Mountain Drive at around 7:10 p.m. when Grossman allegedly struck them.

The vehicle sped through the intersection and hit the boys “right in front of the parents,” according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Prosecutors said she was driving just over 70 mph on a 45 mph street.

The mother was able to get her two youngest children — including a daughter in a stroller — out of harm’s way, but she couldn’t reach the older boys in time, according to Mirette Fouad, a friend of the victims’ family.

Mark was pronounced dead at the scene. His younger brother Jacob was taken to the hospital and died a few hours later. Mark’s body was found 254 feet away from the crosswalk while Jacob was found about 50 feet away from the crosswalk, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Mercedes-Benz SUV involved in the crash sustained major damage to its front end, a photo released by authorities showed.

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Grossman was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after the crash, but remains out of custody on a $2 million bond.

In closing arguments on Thursday, the defense blamed Grossman’s then-boyfriend, Scott Erickson, a former L.A. Dodgers pitcher, claiming it was his car that struck the boys as the couple left a local restaurant in separate cars. Grossman and her husband had been dating other people after deciding to separate at the time.

Grossman’s attorneys alleged Erickson was driving a black SUV just ahead of Grossman’s vehicle at the time of the crash.

A collision reconstruction engineer testified in court that the case had “room for ambiguity” as he couldn’t be certain that just one vehicle had hit the children, rather than two, according to the Orange County Register.

In court, Grossman’s daughter, Alexis Grossman, 19, testified on Feb. 16 that she spotted Erickson hiding behind a tree near the scene of the accident. He was allegedly “poking his head out and looking to see what was going on,” the O.C. Register reports.

Afterward, she claimed Erickson went to her home while angrily shouting, “Why did your mom stop? Why did your mom stop? Why didn’t she just drive home?”

The teen said she could smell alcohol on Erickson and he was “freaking out” while warning her not to tell anyone she had seen him near the accident site. She told jurors that Erickson threatened, “If you do, I’ll ruin you and your family.”

However, L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Rafael Mejia testified last month and said he didn’t see any indication that more than one vehicle could be involved when he responded to the scene in 2020.

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According to the O.C. Register, Mejia said he smelled alcohol coming from Grossman and contacted a unit to perform a DUI investigation. He allegedly found Grossman about three-tenths of a mile away standing outside her SUV.

“She told me that her vehicle was disabled by Mercedes-Benz,” Mejia said. He also told jurors Grossman mentioned she had hit something but she didn’t know what she struck.

Under questioning, Mejia said he didn’t find any debris consistent with a black SUV or any kind of black vehicle.

“We didn’t see any indicators there was another vehicle,” Mejia said, indicating that the debris at the scene indicated a white vehicle had been involved.

According to the Times, the boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, testified that she heard revving engines and looked up to see a black SUV speeding toward the intersection. She dove out of the way while pulling her younger children to safety.

But she said that a white Mercedes SUV was following closely behind the black car. When it sped through the crosswalk, she said she heard an impact.

As Thursday’s deliberations ended without a verdict, Nancy spoke with KTLA about her sons saying, “They had so much in front of them. So much in this life, all of my hopes, all of my dreams, and they were just taken. If I want to see them, I have to go to the cemetery or just look at their friends and imagine how they would look like.”

Trial deliberations are scheduled to resume on Friday morning. If convicted, Grossman could face up to 34 years in prison.

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