Rebecca Grossman murder trial Day 2: Mother of two boys who were killed sobs on stand as she tells how socialite and her lover were racing their SUVs at an 'insane' speed before children were mowed down

The mother of two young brothers killed in a devastating car crash wept in court today as she recounted the horror of a speeding SUV prosecutors say was driven by wealthy Los Angeles socialite Rebecca Grossman slamming into her sons.

'She killed them,' sobbed Nancy Iskander, looking across the packed Van Nuys courtroom at Grossman as she relived the nightmare of watching helplessly when her boys Jacob, 8, and Mark, 11, were run down and mortally injured.

'Nobody stopped. Nobody came to help……She (Grossman) did not come back to the scene.'

Iskander, 40 - wearing a dark t- shirt bearing the logo '11: 11' since eleven was her son's favorite number - addressed the jury at Grossman's murder trial Monday, recounting that tragic 2020 day. 

Rebecca Grossman, 62, showed up at Van Nuys Court, near LA Monday in a light gray printed dress under a black cardigan with her hair tied back. She was with her husband and daughter 

Nancy Iskander, the mother of the two boys allegedly run over by Grossman, testified at the socialite's murder trial Monday

The Iskander brothers 'didn't stand a chance,' prosecutor Ryan Gould said in opening statements in Rebecca Grossman's trial

Iskander, the boys and her younger son Zachary, 5, were crossing a marked crosswalk in Westlake Village when she looked up to see 'two SUV's barreling toward her', one black and driven by Grossman's ex-pro baseball player boyfriend Scott Erickson and the other white, driven by Grossman.

The two cars bearing down on her family, both Mercedes, were going at 'an insane, crazy speed,' she said, fighting back tears.

'They were playing, trying to beat each other some place. They were racing, constantly changing lanes, zig-zagging…..'

The black car was ahead of the white one at the crosswalk, she testified, and she grabbed Zachary and dove toward the bike lane and curb to avoid being hit.

'But then the white car passed and killed Mark and Jacob,' added Iskander who, after diving with her youngest to safety, turned her head to locate Jacob and Mark who had been crossing a short distance behind her.

But they weren't there.

'At first I could not find them,' she cried. 'Then I found Jacob and he looked like he was sleeping.

'I kept looking for Mark and saw that he was way down the road and there was blood coming from his mouth and every bone in his body was broken.

'I was screaming, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do.'

Iskander, the boys and her youngest son Zachary, 5, were crossing a marked crosswalk in Westlake Village when she looked up to see 'two SUV's barreling toward her,' she testified

Grossman is accused of killing brothers Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander after plowing her Mercedes into the two boys in Westlake Village in September 2020 

Erickson played with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2005 for a year, then ended his career with the New York Yankees in 2006

Grossman, 62, who showed up at Van Nuys court, near LA Monday in a light gray printed dress under a black cardigan with her hair tied back, is charged with two counts of second degree murder in the tragic deaths of the boys.

Looking at a maximum sentence of 34 years to life in prison if convicted, she is also facing two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.

Grossman - who has been free on $2million bail since being charged more than three years ago - has pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

Monday at court she was with her husband, prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, with whom she co-founded the Grossman Burn Foundation in West Hills. The couple's daughter Alexis, 20, was also with them.

While prosecutors say it was Grossman's car that hit and killed the boys, her defense team is taking the position that it was her boyfriend, ex-star pitcher Scott Erickson's black SUV - with whom she had been drinking earlier - that was to blame and that after the crash he stopped his vehicle and 'hid in the bushes,' watching police show up, then took off.

Erickson, 56, was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and his case was resolved in February 2022 with a judge ordering him to make a public service announcement for high school students about the importance of safe driving.

Monday at court she was with her husband, prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, with whom she co-founded the Grossman Burn Foundation in West Hills. The couple's daughter Alexis, 20, was also with them

Grossman - who has been free on $2million bail since being charged more than three years ago - has pleaded not guilty to all the counts. 

The socialite is accused of going 81mph in a 45mph zone before plowing into the boys on a crosswalk and damaging her white Mercedes (pictured) 

During her wrenching testimony Monday, Iskander told the jury of nine men and three women that of the day of the horrific accident, she her husband Karim and their four kids - including their youngest, toddler Violet - had been cooped up at home because of the Covid pandemic and decided to take a family outing for some fresh air.

They headed down Triunfo Canyon Blvd toward the lake in Westlake village, she and Jacob on rollerblades, Mark on his skateboard, Zachary on his scooter and dad Karim running with Violet in a stroller.

Openly crying as Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould showed background photos of Mark's smashed skateboard and Jacob's ripped blue shirt, she said she chose to use the pedestrian crosswalk at the Saddle Mountain Drive intersection, 'because I felt safer crossing on the crosswalk. With children…. it was the responsible thing to do.'

With Zachary by her side and Mark and Jacob a short way behind her, she was already three quarters off the way across the crosswalk when she heard the loud noise of the black and white SUV engines speeding toward her.

'I remember seeing the bumper of the black car coming to kill me and Zachary,' she said, adding that she grabbed Zachary and leapt toward the side of the road she'd been rollerblading toward, narrowly avoiding being hit by Erickson's SUV which was on the inside lane.

But she added, 'Then I saw the white car (Grossman's) pass where Mark and Jacob were……I saw the white car exactly where Mark and Jacob were. The white car crossed and the kids died.'

DDFA Gould asked Iskander again, to clarify, 'The black SUV did not hit' the boys 'but the white one did?'

'Exactly,' she responded.

Grossman - who has been free on $2million bail since being charged more than three years ago - has pleaded not guilty to all the counts. She's seen in a court sketch from Friday 

Prosecutors say Grossman was chasing after Scott Erickson (left) - who was driving a separate SUV - after a cocktail-fueled lunch at Julio's in Westlake Village

When Gould showed her a re-enactment video of the accident made by the defense, showing the black SUV hitting the boys, Iskander snorted and said, 'Complete science fiction.'

Under cross examination from lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee, Iskander bristled at his suggestion that it could have been the black SUV, driven by Erickson, that killed her sons.

'I care about my kids ….and I know who killed them. I'm their mother, I'm the one who loves them the most.

'My sons just died. Her car ran them over. I know that she killed them, I know. Please try to understand.

'They are not at school. They are not playing sports. They are at the cemetery.'

Iskander was pressed by Buzbee, 'Did you see the white car hit your children?' She answered, 'I saw the white car crossing where my kids were.'

When Buzbee suggested that it was dark at the time of the evening accident, she responded, 'It was dusk - but it was light. I could clearly see the black and white cars.'

And when Buzbee asked if any other cars crossed the crosswalk after the crash, she said, 'I didn't notice….I was screaming. My kids just died before my very eyes.

'I still see it every day, every night.'

Earlier on the day of the tragedy, Grossman had been at nearby restaurant Julio's, drinking a margarita with her boyfriend, Scott Erickson and his longtime buddy, Royce Clayton, also a former pro baseball player.

On Monday, prosecutors called Clayton to the witness stand and asked him why, after knowing Erickson for 30 years, he's no longer friends with him.

'I do not understand how he (Erickson) could be so negligent and be responsible for running down kids,' he told the jury.