The boys' family will be awarded $176 million in damages
Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodgers player Scott Erickson were found responsible for the 2020 deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were 11 and 8
- Grossman and Erickson were engaging in street racing at the time of the fatal hit-and-run
- A jury decided Wednesday, June 3 that the Iskander family will be paid $176 million in damages
Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodgers player Scott Erickson were found responsible for the 2020 hit-and-run deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were 11 and 8.
A jury decided on Wednesday, June 3 that Grossman, 62, and Erickson, 58, were liable in the fatal Westlake Village, Calif. crash, The Los Angeles Times reports. Following an eight-week trial, the jury decided to award the victims' parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and their younger brother, Zachary, $176 million in damages.
While Erickson was in a separate vehicle ahead of Grossman on the street at the time of the incident, the jury determined that he was negligent, and that they “acted in concert with each other in the course of their activities leading to the fatal collision," according to The LA Times.
Previous reports indicated that Grossman and Erickson were engaging in street racing at the time of the fatal crash.
The jury found that both parties acted with malice, opening the door for further potential penalties, local outlet Fox 11 reports. Grossman's husband Dr. Peter Grossman is also named as a defendant, as he owned the vehicle Grossman was driving when she committed the hit-and-run.
In March, a jury also upheld Grossman's double murder convictions from 2024, according to a press release from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.
“Rebecca Grossman was rightfully convicted by a jury of her peers for the callous murder of two children when she chose to drive up to 81 mph on a residential street after drinking at a bar, knowing full well that this could have deadly results,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement.
Credit: Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church of Ventura County
“The legal standard is clear: Driving at excessive speeds through a pedestrian crosswalk after consuming alcohol absolutely demonstrates the requisite state of mind for second-degree murder," Hochman added. "The outcome of this case shows that the law applies to everyone, and money or connections offer no immunity from accountability.”
In a 2020 press release, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said Grossman was driving at “excessive speeds” when she struck Mark and Jacob, who were at a crosswalk, and then drove away.
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The Los Angeles Times reported previously, citing evidence presented during her trial, that Grossman had consumed alcohol and Valium and was racing her then-boyfriend Erickson moments before, driving at 81 mph in a 45-mph zone.
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