The mother of two young boys killed after a Los Angeles socialite plowed into them on a crosswalk, has accused the woman of showing “only hate” towards her family, following repeated delays to the sentencing.
Nancy Iskander said that Rebecca Grossman has had “many opportunities to show mercy” during the process, but had treated her family as “the number one enemy in the world.”
Ms Iskander’s two sons, Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob Iskander, eight, were struck by the large Mercedes Benz SUV at an intersection in Westlake Village, north west of Los Angeles, in September 2020.
Prosecutors said that at the time Ms Grossman had been “racing” her lover, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, at high speeds through the residential neighbourhood. Grossman was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder over the youngsters’ deaths in February, with sentencing previously scheduled for April 10.
But, according to Ms Iskander, the socialite had used multiple “strategies” including creating conflicts of interest to delay the hearing.
“The issue became that every time we try and move on and move on to that next step, the legal system or Ms Grossman, or both, take us back into the fight, back to the fight for justice,” she said, speaking to Fox News Digital.
“It’s horrific to say the least. She has not expressed remorse but more importantly, she has not even shown mercy… I felt that she had many opportunities to show mercy, plead guilty or figure out a way to just shorten the process of the fight, and not having to take me back again and again into that courtroom.
“But she didn’t. She’s had many opportunities to show mercy and she did not show any mercy on my family, in fact, she only shows hate... as if we’re as if we’re number one enemy in the world.”
She added: “It feels so unfair, not only to lose the kids, but also to find yourself in the middle of a fight with a person who wants to hurt you as much as possible.”
Grossman faces up to 34 years to life in prison for the deaths of the two children.
During the trial, the court heard how the socialite had been drinking cocktails at a nearby establishment with Mr Erickson before engaging in a “high-speed game of chicken” through the residential area where she slammed into the two boys at a speed upwards of 70mph. The speed limit in the area was 45mph.
She had been driving behind Mr Erickson when the crash happened on Triunfo Canyon Road, according to testimony from Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators during a preliminary hearing in 2022.
11-year-old Mark died at the scene of the incident, while his younger brother Jacob died later at a local hospital. Mark’s body was found 254 feet away from the crosswalk while Jacob was found about 50 feet away from the crosswalk, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Grossman was also found guilty on two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.
Ms Iskander also provided a harrowing account of what she witnessed during the fatal crash at trial, during which she said the pair of SUVs “were zigzagging with each other as if they were playing or racing”.
“They didn’t stop before the intersection. They didn’t stop at the intersection. They didn’t stop when an 11-year-old was on the hood of the car... Nobody stopped,” she recounted in a tearful account.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, she said: “We will continue to speak up until we see justice and see her pay for the murder of two little boys, because they could be anyone’s kids.
“They’re not just my boys. They’re just an innocent, 11-year-old innocent, an innocent eight-year-old on a crosswalk. So that could be anyone’s kids.”
