LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles jury has awarded $176 million to the parents of two young brothers who tragically lost their lives in a hit-and-run accident nearly six years ago. The collision occurred when a car, driven by a California socialite, struck the boys while they were in a crosswalk.
The jury found both Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, negligent in the fatal incident involving 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander.
The damages awarded on Wednesday were for wrongful death and emotional distress suffered by the boys’ parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander. The trial judge will later determine how much each defendant is responsible for paying.
Court proceedings were set to continue on Friday, with jurors expected to decide whether to award punitive damages to the Iskander family. This trial is a continuation of a separate criminal case where Grossman was sentenced in 2024 to serve 15 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, and hit-and-run driving.
Grossman, who co-founded the Grossman Burn Foundation, is married to a well-known burn doctor. The Iskander family also filed civil lawsuits against both Grossman and Erickson, whose vehicle was ahead of Grossman’s at the time of the crash. The civil trial began in April.
The tragic incident took place on the evening of September 29, 2020, in Westlake Village, located on the western edge of Los Angeles County. Brian Panish, the attorney representing the Iskander family, argued that both Grossman and Erickson were driving recklessly after having drinks together. At the time, the two were dating, even though Grossman was separated from her husband.
Panish made a compelling case, stating that Grossman was driving at a speed of 73 mph (117 kph) in a zone where the speed limit was only 45 mph (72 kph) when her vehicle struck the boys in the crosswalk. He highlighted that Grossman was tailing Erickson, who was also speeding and barely missed the Iskander family.
“This was a totally preventable collision,” Panish told the jury during his closing arguments. “They went out for a walk and they never came home.”
In defense, Grossman’s attorney, Esther Holm, argued that her client was not intoxicated. Holm claimed that Grossman became distracted when she witnessed the boys’ mother trying to protect her children by diving out of the way of Erickson’s vehicle.
“Ms. Grossman was not driving impaired,” Holm told the jury. “She did not see the children, as her attention was diverted by Ms. Iskander.”
On the other hand, Erickson’s attorney, Jeff Braun, expressed condolences for the boys’ deaths but insisted that the vehicle he was driving “made no contact with the children.”
