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A civil jury has found socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson jointly liable for the 2020 hit-and-run deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were just 11 and 8 years old when they were struck and killed while standing at a crosswalk in Westlake Village, California.
The verdict, delivered on Wednesday June 3 following an eight-week trial, resulted in the jury awarding $176 million in damages to the boys' parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and their surviving son Zachary — a sum that reflects the magnitude of a tragedy that has consumed the family, the courts, and the public conscience for nearly six years.
Though Erickson, 58, was driving a separate vehicle ahead of Grossman at the time of the fatal collision, jurors determined he was negligent and concluded that both he and Grossman had acted in concert in the sequence of events that led to the boys' deaths. Prior reporting established that the two, who were romantically involved, had been engaged in street racing moments before the crash. Grossman, 62, was travelling at approximately 81 mph in a 45-mph zone after consuming both alcohol and Valium, according to evidence presented at trial.
The jury also found that both parties had acted with malice, a determination that opens the door to further potential penalties. Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, is additionally named as a defendant in the civil case on the basis that the vehicle his wife was driving at the time of the hit-and-run was registered in his name.
This civil verdict arrives on top of Grossman's existing criminal consequences. In February 2024, she was convicted on two counts of murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death, and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. An appeal she filed was rejected in March, with a separate jury upholding all convictions.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman was direct in his assessment, stating that the outcome confirmed wealth and social standing provide no protection from accountability under the law.
