Mother of two boys mowed down by LA socialite Rebecca Grossman lashes out ahead of sentencing

The mother of two boys who were mowed down by LA socialite Rebecca Grossman has lashed out at their killer ahead of her sentencing.

Rebecca Grossman, 60, faces up to 34 years in prison for the murders of Mark, 11,  and Jacob Iskander, 8. 

The plastic's surgeon's wife was racing her boyfriend home from a restaurant at and under the influence of booze and prescription drugs when she plowed into them in September 2020. 

Their mom Nancy Iskander managed to five out of the way and pull their five-year-old brother to safety, but was forced to watch as her two oldest boys died.

Now she has accused Grossman of intensifying the family's agony with her total lack of remorse and decision to play 'games' in court to seek a new trial. 

Nancy Iskander the mother of two boys who were mowed down by LA socialite Rebecca Grossman has lashed out at their killer ahead of her sentencing

Nancy Iskander (left), accused Grossman (right) of having no remorse over the hit-and-run murders. Grossman, 60, was found guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in February after she mowed the Iskander brothers

Mark Iskander (pictured left), 11, and his younger brother Jacob (pictured right), eight, were killed in the crash in 2020 

'It feels so unfair not only to lose the kids but also to find yourself in the middle of a fight and with a person who wants to hurt you as much as possible in the middle of it,' Iskander told Fox.

'She has not expressed remorse but more importantly she has not even shown mercy. She had many opportunities to show mercy, plead guilty or figure out a way to shorten the process and not having to take me back again and again into that court room but she did not In fact, she only showed hate.' 

Grossman has repeatedly denied responsibility for the killings and employed a number of dirty tactics throughout her trial to try and get away with her crimes.

This included trying to pin the accident on her former Major League Baseball player ex-boyfriend Scott Erickson, as well as allegedly attempting to interfere with witnesses.

'It was heart-wrenching for us,' Iskander said. 'It felt we were punished, or we were the victim of another one of her games.' 

The killer is due back in court today in connection to her bid for a retrial. 

But her decision to hire defense attorney James Spertus is also cause for concern for the Iskanders who say it is another attempt to sway proceedings.

Spertus is reportedly a friend of the judge's and also represents Assistant District Attorney Diana Teran, who was recently charged with 11 felonies in connection to her accessing confidential sheriff's records.

Nancy Iskander was crossing the road with the brothers and her youngest son Zachary, 5, when they were hit. Nancy and her husband Karim are pictured leaving court on February 6

Grossman's white Mercedes SUV is pictured moments after the crash

Castro said that while other people stopped at the accident scene to try to help the fatally injured boys, Grossman 'did not come back to the horror she had caused' 

Teran oversaw Grossman's case, with prosecutors Jamie Castro, Ryan Gould and their supervisor Garrett Dameron reporting to her on a daily basis.

Castro, Gould and Dameron have already been removed to prevent a conflict of interest in a move which devastated the Iskanders.

'Ryan worked on this so diligently from day one and only cared about the truth. The idea we now, all of a sudden, have to work with someone we've never met before feels so unfair,' Nancy Iskander said. 

But the DA's office still considers Spertus' involvement a potential conflict of interest and has petitioned the court to address the matter.

It argued that Spertus might have to end up arguing against decisions taken by his client Teran in a bid to secure Grossman a new trial.

If he does not take the opportunity to explore potential claims, Grossman could accuse him of 'ineffective counsel'. Spertus denies any conflict.

'There was never any conflict between Ms. Teran's case and Ms. Grossman's' case,' he told The LA Times.

 'I agreed to represent Ms. Grossman long before I ever agreed to represent Ms. Teran in her current matter, and those two matters have nothing to do with one another.' 

Nancy Iskander has accused Grossman of playing 'games' in court and not showing any remorse for the killings

Grossman, who is facing 34 years to life in prison, is now set to be sentenced on June 10

Rebecca's believed to have told her husband and teen daughter to influence jurors, witnesses, the judge and her ex-lover

The decision to remove the prosecutors came after Castro and Gould filed a motion that provided jailhouse calls Grossman made with her 19-year-old daughter Alexis and husband Peter that suggested she may have asked them to hunt down witnesses and jurors and try to sway Judge Joseph Brandolino to give her a new trial. 

In addition, she's alleged to have told her teenage daughter to publicly release a body-camera video worn by a deputy that had been sealed by Judge Brandolino and even wrote a letter to the victims' mother after she was found guilty.

Nancy and Karim Iskander, the two boys' parents, said they received the letter from Grossman on March 13.

The county is asking the judge that Grossman be barred from contacting them.

'I want you to unblock the videos,' she told Alexis in one call detailed in the filing from February 23.

Prosecutors got the video sealed after informing the judge there was a webpage backed by Grossman's legal team where it was on display.

However, Grossman still pushed to get the video out to the public, and was heard in a separate call the next day demanding her husband ask a local TV reporter to air it.

Despite Brandolino sealing the jurors' contact information as well, at least two jurors reported three other members of the jury were contacted by Paul Stuckey, a private investigator 'for the family,' according to Gould and Castro.

 

The boy's mother, Nancy Iskander (left) said that her and her husband, Karim (right) were told about the prosecutors dismissal on Friday and that it made her take 'a few steps back in my healing process' 

Following the release of the phone calls, prosecutors attempted to have her prisoner privileges revoked, but Judge Brandolino denied their motion and said her actions were the result of 'naivety'. 

Brandolino told the defense attorneys to destroy the names of any jurors, other information from the trial and to not make any further contact.

At the time of the fatal 'hit-and-run,' Grossman was speeding on a residential street in Westlake Village in Los Angeles when she failed to stop after mowing down the two children with her white Mercedes SUV.

The Iskanders' lives were 'completely dismantled' by the 'wreckage left behind' by Grossman, Castro said.

Grossman had a margarita with friends that day, then another at the now-closed Westlake Village restaurant Julio's with Erickson – whom she was dating while she was estranged from her husband.

The two left Julio's around 7pm – she in her white Mercedes SUV and he ahead in his black Mercedes SUV – to go to her nearby home to watch a presidential debate.

Witnesses reported seeing the two cars 'flying by' or in the 45mph speed limit on Triunfo Canyon Road. One of those witnesses saw a woman at the wheel of the white Mercedes and said, 'It seemed to be jovial, like there was some sort of race going on.'

The black box of Grossman's car – which was just behind Erickson's – recorded her speed at 81mph when she tapped the brakes and 'plowed into the boys on the crosswalk at 73mph,' Castro said.

Judge Joseph Brandolino (pictured) said Grossman's attempts to try and subvert the outcome were the result of 'naivety'

'That was the last moment of the boys' lives. If she had been doing the speed limit the crash could have been avoided,' she added. 

'After the collision, she did not stop – she continued driving' ….about a third of a mile down the road, with Mercedes' emergency accident system automatically kicking in to turn off the fuel pump and bring the vehicle to a stop….'

Castro said that while other people stopped at the accident scene to try to help the fatally injured boys, Grossman 'did not come back to the horror she had caused. She didn't call 911. She did not get out of her car and go back to the scene of the crash.'

She was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of vehicular manslaughter by an LA jury of nine men and three women. Grossman is due to be sentenced on June 10.