The heartbroken mother of two children killed by socialite Rebecca Grossman in a hit-and-run gave a heartbreaking victim impact statement during her sentencing Monday.
Grossman, who will turn 61 on Friday, was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges in the 2020 deaths of brothers Mark, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, in Westlake Village, outside Los Angels.
Nancy Iskander spoke directly to Grossman and recalled how she had to make the horrible decision to take Jacob off life support after Mark was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pointing to Grossman, Nancy continued: ‘She looked me in the eye. She didn’t get down on her knees and say she wishes she could talk to me. She could have done it. She can’t say, “she wanted to talk to Nancy.”
The children’s parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, arrive at court on Monday.
Nancy continued yelling at Grossman: ‘You were there! You looked me in the eyes. You knew they were dying!
It is unclear where Nancy says she saw Grossman on the day of the hit-and-run, as Grossman did not return to the scene or stop his vehicle until it was disabled on its own due to the accident.
Speaking in court, Nancy recalled waiting for Jacob to take his last breath in the hospital.
“It was turning blue and I had to leave the room,” he added.
In a shocking moment, Nancy said that despite her anger, she loves the woman who took her children’s lives.
“I’ll say I love her,” Nancy said. “I love Rebecca Grossman after everything she did, but I don’t believe what they say about her because her actions speak about her.”
Citing a lack of remorse for their actions, prosecutors have asked for the maximum penalty of two consecutive sentences of 15 years to life in prison, one for each child.
If given that sentence, Grossman, who has been in custody since his conviction in February, would likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, daughter Alexis, 19, and son Nick continued to support the socialite and were present in the courtroom before the sentencing.
Grossman has not been photographed today because she was arrested after her conviction in February and has been in prison since then.
On the opposite side of the court sat the children’s parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander.
Killer Rebecca Grossman attempted to blame NASA and SpaceX as she tried to escape responsibility for fatally running over two young brothers with her car, according to prosecutors.
Wearing a button with a photo of her two children on her shirt, Nancy was crying as she took her seat in the courtroom audience.
Grossman, dressed in a brown jumpsuit, shook her head and cried as victim impact statements were read in court. The statements were read by her uncle, grandmother, teachers, a pastor, and Mark and Jacob’s neighbors.
The packed courtroom was moved to tears as the Iskander children’s grandmother, Joyce, told the judge how the tragic deaths had affected her entire family.
Joyce Ghobrial, Nancy Iskander’s mother, said she left her job and moved in with her daughter and son-in-law to help raise her grandchildren.
Rebecca Grossman’s daughter Alexis, her husband Peter and their son Nick arrived at the Southern California courthouse dressed all in black ahead of the jet-setting killer’s sentencing on Monday.
The grandmother’s grief-stricken voice cracked as she struggled to hold the microphone and spoke of how Grossman did not easily take responsibility for the tragedy.
“There are people asking me how I am… I’m in mourning,” Ghobrial said. “If it weren’t for his car, we would still be looking for the killer.”
The wife of prominent Los Angeles burn doctor Peter fatally struck the brothers while speeding behind a car driven by then-lover Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Grossman was not charged with being under the influence, but former baseball player Royce Clayton testified that he had met her and Erickson at a nearby restaurant where Erickson had two margaritas and Grossman had one.
The Iskander boys, Mark and Jacob, ages 11 and 8, died at the scene after Grossman’s Mercedes hit them at high speed.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the data recorder in Grossman’s white Mercedes showed she was accelerating at 81 mph and hit the brakes, slowing her to 73 mph, less than two seconds before a collision that deployed her airbags.
In their sentencing memos, prosecutors said Grossman also allegedly “conspired with a friend to contact the Iskanders planning to give them a necklace,” which had her children’s birthstones on it, and was trying to have them given to her anonymously. last month.
“The defendant’s actions from September 29, 2020 to today show a complete lack of remorse and narcissistic superiority that leads to only one conclusion: that she does not deserve any leniency,” said prosecutors Habib Balian, Ryan Gould and Jamie Castro, as the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The defendant has continually demonstrated by her actions that she deserves the maximum punishment.”
Prosecutors allege that Grossman got her family to lie for her during the trial, including her daughter Alexis, seen Monday.
They added: “She has lived a life of privilege and clearly felt that her wealth and notoriety would buy her freedom.”
The defense has called Grossman a “humanitarian” who helped burn victims and survivors of domestic violence and grew up abused and impoverished in Texas.
Their lead attorney, James Spertus, acknowledged that the Iskanders’ loss was “incalculable,” but added that the Grossmans have experienced a different kind of loss.
In a letter to the judge asking for leniency, Grossman wrote: “I am not a murderer and I ask that you recognize that fact as true.”
‘My pain, my recognition of the pain that Iskanders suffer, and the pain that I see my family endure, are punishments that I already suffer and will suffer for the rest of my life.
‘Please consider this suffering when considering what further punishment to impose on me in this case.
‘God is my witness that I saw nothing and no one on the way. I swear, I would have crashed my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little kids.
Dr. Peter Grossman (right), his daughter Alexis, 19, left, and son Nick continued to support the socialite and appeared in court to receive her sentence on Monday. They are photographed in February.
Grossman’s son Nick wrote in a letter to the judge: “Nothing compares to what the Iskanders are going through, but since the accident, I feel like the world hates my mother and everyone is against our family.”
“It’s like they just want the worst version of the story and have never investigated who she really is and all the things she has done her whole life, every day. They have turned her into a monster.
Meanwhile, prosecutors also allege that Grossman got her family to lie for her during the trial, including her daughter Alexis.
She has already been accused of using dirty tactics to try to overturn her convictions. Prosecutors previously said that from jail she told her husband and daughter to find jurors and witnesses to try to get them to change her testimony and convince Judge Brandolino to grant her a new trial.
Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV appears in the photo moments after the accident.
Grossman also allegedly told his daughter Alexis to release video from a sheriff’s deputy’s body camera that had been sealed by the judge.
Even though Judge Brandolino sealed jurors’ contact information, at least two jurors reported that Paul Stuckey, a private investigator “for the family,” contacted three other jurors, according to The prosecutors.
Grossman’s lead defense attorney during the trial, Tony Buzbee, repeatedly blamed his then-lover Erickson for the deaths, suggesting that the retired baseball player’s car hit Jacob, throwing him against the sidewalk, and then hit Mark, throwing him into the path of Grossman’s Mercedes. .
Grossman was separated from her husband at the time of the accident and was dating Scott Erickson, who her defense claimed was the one who hit the children.
A lawyer for Erickson has said the former player denies having contributed in any way to the tragedy. Erickson was initially charged with misdemeanor reckless driving, but it was dismissed after he made a public service announcement, the Times said.
Nancy Iskander testified that the black van did not hit her children, but could have hit her and her 5-year-old son Zachary. She said she moved out of the way and carried Zachary to safety.
The mother said she did not see Mark and Jacob being hit, but three witnesses testified that they saw a white or light-colored vehicle hit the children.
Grossman’s husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, medical director of the Grossman Burn Centers, was called to testify for his wife’s defense. The Grossmans are founders of the Grossman Burn Foundation, which promotes care and support for burn survivors.
Peter Grossman said he and his wife were separated at the time and were living separate lives under the same roof while dating other people. His wife was involved with Erickson in 2020, he testified.