Ex-MLB player testifies Erickson witnessed Grossman strike boys in fatal crash

A former Major League Baseball player testified Friday that his friend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, told him he watched Rebecca Grossman strike two young brothers with her vehicle in a 2020 hit-and-run crash that killed them both.

The testimony came in a wrongful death civil trial filed by the family of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were 11 and 8 years old when they died. Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was previously convicted in criminal court and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in June 2024.

Clayton, a former Major League Baseball player, grew emotional on the witness stand as he recounted what Erickson had confided in him about the night of the crash, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

"She was directly behind him, and he said as he came up to this crosswalk, he saw the children," Clayton said before breaking down on the stand, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

Clayton testified that Erickson and Grossman had been drinking and were traveling in separate vehicles when the crash occurred. According to Clayton's account of what Erickson told him, Erickson swerved to avoid boys in a crosswalk, but Grossman — driving directly behind him — struck the children. Clayton said he believes Erickson should be held accountable for the deaths.

Erickson, Grossman's then-boyfriend and a former Dodgers pitcher, did not take the stand during Grossman's criminal trial. Grossman's defense attorney had argued in that proceeding that it was Erickson, not Grossman, who struck the boys. Erickson is now named as a defendant in the civil suit and is expected to testify.

Grossman was convicted of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in June 2024 and is not expected to testify in the civil trial, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The Iskander family filed the suit seeking damages over the deaths of Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, in the September 2020 crash. Grossman has not publicly addressed the civil proceedings.

The civil trial is ongoing. Erickson, who did not testify during Grossman's criminal case, is expected to take the stand in the coming days, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.