A wealthy California woman who co-founded a burn center foundation in the Los Angeles area was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Monday for the hit-and-runs of two children while they were killing in a crosswalk more than three years ago.
Rebecca Grossman was speeding when she struck and killed Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, 8, while they were in a crosswalk in the Los Angeles-area city of Westlake Village on Sept. 29, 2020.
“The loss of these two innocent lives has devastated their family and our community. Ms. Grossman’s blatant disregard for human life is a stark reminder of the serious consequences of irresponsible behavior behind the wheel,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.
A jury convicted Grossman in February on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.
Grossman, now 60, was speeding behind a car driven by her then-lover, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, when she fatally hit the boys, prosecutors have said. Erickson was not charged.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 34 years to life.
The boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, told Grossman at Monday’s sentencing that she has shown no remorse to her for killing her two boys, NBC Los Angeles reported.
In a letter to the judge, Grossman said that “I am not a murderer” and that “as God is my witness, I did not see anyone or anything in the road,” the station reported. “I swear to you, I would have driven my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys.”
Grossman co-founded the Grossman Burn Foundation, along with her husband Dr. Peter H. Grossman. The philanthropic foundation is an arm of the Grossman Burn Centers. The Grossman Burn Center was founded by Dr. A. Richard Grossman, Peter Grossman’s father.
Allen Castellano, chief of the county sheriff’s North Patrol Division, said in a statement that he hoped the sentence would give the family some comfort.
“This individual showed a complete disregard for the lives and safety of others in our community through her reckless actions, which ultimately shattered a family and robbed two children of their bright futures,” he said.
CORRECTION (June 10, 2024, 9:20 pm ET): An earlier version of this article misidentified the organization that Rebecca Grossman co-founded. She co-founded the Grossman Burn Foundation, not the Grossman Burn Center.
