Southern California socialite Rebecca Grossman found guilty in crash that killed 2 young brothers
A Los Angeles County jury Friday found Rebecca Grossman guilty of murder for the 2020 crash that killed two young brothers, 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob.
"We've been waiting for this for 3.5 years," the boys' mother Nancy Iskander said after the jury read the verdict. "We are also super thankful for our prosecution. They worked tirelessly — 3.5 years. They went above and beyond ... They only cared about the truth. They only wanted to tell the truth. They worked against some of the most evil defense attorneys."
Grossman, the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was found guilty of two counts of murder. Additionally, the jury found her guilty of two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.
She could face 34 years to life in state prison.
"We can finally move on," the boys' father Karim Iskander said. "We have been waiting for closure. Honestly, we have been waiting for Mrs. Grossman to apologize; to take responsibility."
During the trial, prosecutors claimed Grossman hit the children while they were in a crosswalk and drove away. The District Attorney's Office claimed debris left at the scene matched Grossman's white Mercedes-Benz SUV. She was allegedly speeding down the road and impaired.
The prosecution claimed Grossman was going as fast as 81 mph, almost twice the legal speed limit, just seconds before the crash. Data from her car showed that she was driving at about 73 mph at the time of the crash, according to the district attorney's office.
A detective from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testified that Grossman's sobriety test after the crash showed that she was legally drunk with a blood-alcohol content level of .08%.
In his closing argument Wednesday, lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee tried to pin the deadly crash on Grossman's then-boyfriend and former LA Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, claiming his black Mercedes-Benz SUV struck the two boys first.
"The defense tried to make this the Scott Erickson trial," the prosecutor said.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould told jurors there was "not a shred of evidence" to back up the defense's claim that the black SUV struck the children first and called it a "ridiculous theory."
"It was heartbreaking to see the lawyers' lies and conspiracy theories," Karim said.
Grossman's attorney claimed the prosecution could not prove what happened the night of the crash.
"I think we now have seen she ain't guilty of anything," Buzbee told the jury.
Friday's verdict comes after two days of deliberation by the nine-man, three-woman jury. The panel mulled the evidence for a total of nine hours before handing down their verdict.
Grossman remained free throughout the trial on a $2 million bond.