Jury awards $176M, finds socialite and ex-Dodger negligent in brothers' deaths

A civil jury Tuesday awarded $176 million to the family of two brothers struck and killed in a 2020 crash, finding socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodger Scott Erickson negligent in the deaths of Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander.

The June 3 verdict comes more than five years after the brothers were struck at a Triunfo Canyon Road crosswalk while Grossman's car traveled at roughly 80 mph in a 45 mph zone, adding civil liability to a criminal case that already sent Grossman to prison for 15 years to life.

Mark and Jacob Iskander were struck on Sept. 29, 2020, while crossing Triunfo Canyon Road in Westlake Village, according to City News Service. Grossman's vehicle was traveling at approximately 80 mph in a zone posted at 45 mph when it hit the boys at the crosswalk.

Jurors concluded that Grossman and Erickson, a former major league pitcher, had consumed cocktails before engaging in a speed contest along the same stretch of road, City News Service reported. Unlike Grossman, Erickson faced no criminal charges stemming from the crash, but the civil jury found him liable alongside her.

Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon and Rebecca Grossman's husband, was also named as a defendant because he owned the vehicle and had given his wife permission to drive it.

In a separate criminal proceeding, Rebecca Grossman was convicted Feb. 23, 2024, on two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, along with one count of hit-and-run driving. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

The civil jury determined that Grossman and Erickson had acted with malice, opening the door to additional punitive damages. A hearing on those damages was scheduled for Thursday, June 5, according to City News Service.

Julie Cohen, a friend of the Iskander family, spoke after the verdict. "When you race on our streets, and you drink and drive, you will be held accountable," Cohen said.

The civil lawsuit was filed in January 2021 by the boys' parents, Karim and Nancy Iskander, and their son Zachary — nearly four months after the crash that killed Mark and Jacob.