Appeals court panel upholds Rebecca Grossman’s conviction in Westlake Village crash that killed Iskander brothers

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (KABC) — A state appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld the conviction of socialite Rebecca Grossman, who was convicted of killing two young brothers in a 2020 crash in Westlake Village.

The co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation was accused of speeding and hitting 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, on Sept. 29, 2020.

Grossman was convicted Feb. 23, 2024, of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving in connection with the deadly crash.

She is currently serving a prison sentence of 15 years to life.

Grossman’s attorney was trying to have her second-degree murder conviction overturned, arguing the judge in the trial failed to properly instruct the jury on the definition of “implied malice.” On Tuesday, a state appeals court upheld her conviction.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Grossman and her then-boyfriend — former Dodger Scott Erickson — had been out for drinks earlier that evening and were heading toward her nearby home in separate vehicles when Grossman’s white Mercedes-Benz SUV struck the boys while they were crossing Triunfo Canyon Road with their parents and siblings in a marked crosswalk.

Sheriff’s officials said the family of six was crossing the three-way intersection — which does not have a stoplight — in the crosswalk when the mother heard a car speeding toward them and both parents reached out to protect two of their children, but the two boys were too far out in the intersection and were struck.

The older boy died at the scene, and his 8-year-old brother died at a hospital.

Prosecutors said that despite the airbags going off, Grossman continued driving after striking the boys, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile away from the scene when her car engine stopped running.

The prosecution alleged that Grossman was speeding at 81 mph in a 45-mph zone just seconds before impact, and that data from the vehicle’s so-called black box showing that she was driving 73 mph at the time of the crash was reliable.

Grossman’s attorneys insisted during the case that it was Erickson who struck the boys first with his black SUV. Erickson was never called to testify in the case.

For nearly six years, the boy’s mother, Nancy Iskander, has been fighting for justice.

“I am definitely thankful and happy that the conviction was upheld, but I’ll be moving on in life, now that that’s behind me, knowing that Mark and Jacob are not coming back. I always knew that they were not going to come back. It’s just another reminder that they were murdered,” she told Eyewitness News on Tuesday.

Iskander also spoke about the healing process.

“I’d like to encourage everyone who hears me today to turn their pain, their struggles in life, into something good. Try to support somebody who is going through the same thing, maybe, or share their experience, how they overcome it every day. Some things you just have to overcome every day,” Iskander said.

City News Service contributed to this report.