Rebecca Grossman’s tearful teenage daughter told at the wealthy socialite’s murder trial Friday how she saw her mother’s lover, Scott Erickson, hiding behind a tree, watching Grossman talk to police after the horrific crash that killed her. two young brothers.
And he told how Erickson later burst into his house, smelling of alcohol, shouting ‘Why did your mom stop?’ and he threatened to “ruin me and my family” if he told anyone that he had seen him near the accident site.
Alexis Grossman, who was 16 at the time of the tragedy, told the court he was driving to pick up a pizza when he saw police lights flashing and saw his mother, near her white Mercedes SUV, being questioned by police. .
‘I stopped and ran towards her shouting ‘mom, mommy’. But the police told me I couldn’t talk to my mom and told me to go home.’
Rebecca Grossman’s tearful teenage daughter, Alexis seen at far right, told Friday at the wealthy socialite’s murder trial how she saw her mother’s lover, Scott Erickson, hiding behind a tree, watching Grossman talk to police after the horrific accident that killed two young brothers. Pictured is Rebecca Grossman, center, with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, left.
Alexis described Erickson, photographed in 2018, bursting into her house smelling like booze, asking why her mother stopped doing it and threatening to harm her family if she talked about it.
Grossman, photographed in a Van Nuys courthouse earlier this week, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Alexis, now 19 and a sophomore at Clemson University, said she walked back to her car and that’s when she turned around and “saw Scott Erickson.” He was behind a tree in the bushes and stuck his head out and we made eye contact.”
He told lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee that he didn’t see Erickson’s black Mercedes SUV and didn’t talk to him because “I was so surprised to see my mother surrounded by police.” He was freaking out, having a panic attack.
He drove the short distance back to his mother’s house in Westlake Village, where shortly after arriving there, “The front door burst open and Scott Erickson walked in and said, ‘Why did your mom stop? Why did she stop?’ Did your mom stop?
“He seemed very angry. He was frantic. I could smell the alcohol on him. He was crazy. He was scared.
‘He shouted ‘Don’t say anything.’ Don’t tell anyone you saw me or I will ruin you and your family.
‘He’s a big guy. He’s a baseball player and he was scary,” added Alexis de Erickson, a former professional pitcher who is 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds.
Erickson played with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2005 for one year, then finished his career with the New York Yankees in 2006.
Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV appears in the photo moments after the accident.
Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the tragic deaths of Jacob, 8, and Mark Iskander, 11, in a marked crosswalk in September 2020.
“I was afraid he might do something to hurt me or my family because of what he said.”
Alexis, dressed in a black minidress and a dark sweater, with her blonde hair tied back, cried when she told Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould, during cross-examination, that she loved her mother and would help her ‘in anything she needs.’ could’.
When District Attorney Gould asked her if she had told police she had seen Erickson that night when they interviewed her later, she said, “No, but I wish I had.”
He didn’t even tell his father, Peter Grossman, that he had seen Erickson, when he called him later the night of the accident.
“I didn’t tell him about Scott; I called him to tell him that Mom had been in an accident.”
When asked why she didn’t tell her father she had seen Erickson, she said, “He (Erickson) was ranting.” He was angry. He was yelling, ‘Why did your mom stop?’
“He said, ‘Don’t tell anyone you saw me.’ If you do, I will ruin you and your family. It was the worst moment of my life.”
Alexis said she finally told her parents that she had seen Erickson that night, and when she told her original attorney in the case, “He said, ‘Don’t tell anyone.'” They got the wrong person,” and he told her not to “get involved in this.”
Mark (left) and Jacob (right) Iskander, ages 11 and 8 respectively, died in the horrific accident on September 29, 2020.
Mark Iskander, 11, and his younger brother Jacob, eight, died in the 2020 crash.
Grossman claimed the accident was caused by a poorly lit and poorly marked crosswalk shown above.
That lawyer died and Grossman hired Buzbee and his team from Houston, Texas, to represent her.
Prosecutor Gould interviewed Alexis in July 2021, 10 months after the accident, and told him in court on Friday: ‘Did you never tell me about Scott Erickson hiding in the bushes or behind a tree? “No,” he agreed.
“Or that he returned home that night,” he added. “No,” she said.
He also admitted that during the interview he told District Attorney Gould that Erickson had not returned to the house and that their “paths had not crossed that night.”
Alexis admitted that during her mother’s numerous court appearances, including a preliminary hearing in May 2022, she did not tell prosecutors that she had seen Erickson the night of the collision.
And he agreed that it wasn’t until the trial began that prosecutors learned of his encounters with Erickson.
When asked by District Attorney Gould if her mother and Erickson had “stayed together for some time” after the collision that killed the Iskander children, Alexis responded, “I don’t think so.”
As a result of the fatal crosswalk accident, Erickson was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving. But his case was resolved in February 2022 when a judge ordered him to make a public service announcement to high school students about the importance of safe driving.
During his 15-year professional career, Erickson – now 56 – was a star pitcher for the Minnesota Twins – with whom he won a World Series in 1991 – the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers. .
He spent a year playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005 and finished his career with the New York Yankees in 2006.
Mark Iskander, 11, and his younger brother Jacob, eight, died in the 2020 crash.
Nancy and Karim Iskander, the children’s parents, are shown leaving the courthouse earlier this month. Nancy was crossing the street with the brothers when they were hit.
Erickson, born in Long Beach, California, was married for 17 years to actress turned sportscaster and television reporter Lisa Guerrero, now 59, with whom he lived in Los Angeles. They divorced in 2021 and did not have children together.
A cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams in the ’80s, Guerrero starred in Aaron Spelling’s ’90s television series Sunset Beach and guest-starred on numerous shows, including Frasier, Cybill and In the Heat of the Night.
She switched careers to sports broadcasting and co-hosted The Best Damn Sports Show Period, which led to a Playboy magazine cover in January 2006 with the tag The Best Damn Sports Beauty.
After a stint as a sideline reporter on Monday Night Football that only lasted a year, in 2006 she landed a job as a correspondent on television’s Inside Edition, where she later became chief investigative reporter.
In 2007, Guerrero and her then-husband Erickson, who had just retired from baseball, financed and co-executive produced the film A Plumm Summer, in which she also starred alongside Jeff Daniels, Billy Baldwin and Henry Winkler.