Nancy Iskander arrived at the graves of her two young children a few hours after a jury on Friday convicted Rebecca Grossman of murdering them.
It was the end of a heartbreaking day. Three years after Grossman careened through a Westlake Village crosswalk in her Mercedes, running over Iskander's children as she watched in horror, she had finally found some level of closure.
“Someone was held responsible for the murder of his children. Deep sleep. Rest in peace,” he wrote in X along with a sunset photo of the marble headstone.
It took the jury a little more than a day to convict Rebecca Grossman on all charges.
In doing so, jurors appeared to embrace the prosecution's argument that Grossman, a scion of a prominent medical family, was reckless and impaired by daisies and Valium when she crossed the residential intersection and struck children as they walked in a marked crosswalk. .
The jury convicted Grossman of two counts of murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit and run resulting in death. Those were the maximum charges requested by prosecutors. The jury could have opted for lesser charges, such as vehicular manslaughter with minor negligence.
A sign shows an image of Mark Iskander, 11, left, and his brother Jacob Iskander, 8.
(Mel Melcón / Los Angeles Times)
For Iskander, it was a moment of satisfaction and pain. She had been giving testimony for her children, testifying in court and demanding that authorities take the case seriously.
“My family has been waiting for this for three and a half years. I have been waiting for the trust of the justice system. So today we are just giving glory to God, the God of Mark and Jacob has been with us during that time and he helped us, he carried us,” he said outside the courtroom.
He said that attending the high-profile trial “felt like I was attending the children's funeral again, day after day. “That's how I felt when I saw the defendant and the defense attorneys.”
But with the conviction I felt, it was all worth it.
“We trusted the justice system,” he said. “We have a justice system you can trust based on our experience. It's not a justice system where people get away with things that are beneath the color of their skin or their wealth or anything like that. If you commit a crime, you will be held accountable.”
On September 29, 2020, as Iskander and her three children approached the crosswalk on in-line skates, she began crossing Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was next to her on her scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, who was also wearing inline skates, followed him a little further than arms length.
Prosecutors accused Grossman of reaching 81 mph before lightly braking and hitting the brothers at 73 mph, based on the car's data recorder and the distance Mark was found from the crosswalk.
Prosecutors allege that Grossman, 60, had cocktails with her then-boyfriend Scott Erickson, a former Dodger pitcher, and then raced with him (he in his black Mercedes sport utility vehicle and she in her white Mercedes SUV) around Trump. Canyon Road until you reach a crosswalk.
Prosecutors have also alleged that Grossman traveled a third of a mile after crashing into the children before his car's safety features automatically shut it off.
Iskander's witness testimony was a highly charged moment of the trial, as he described how he saw Grossman's truck run over his children.
“I heard a loud noise and I heard the driver of that car keep going,” Iskander told the jury. “I started screaming, 'I can't find them.'”
“No one came back to help,” Iskander said. “She did not return to the scene.”
“She killed my children,” Iskander said of Grossman. “They're not at school. They don't play sports. “They are in the cemetery.”
Grossman was arrested after the verdict. He faces a sentence of 34 years to life in prison based on the conviction. Grossman's lead attorney, Tony Buzbee, called the verdict unexpected and vowed to appeal.
Nancy Iskander said she was not happy to see Grossman in handcuffs. Grossman's daughter, overcome with emotion, screamed, “Oh, my God,” as the first guilty word echoed through the courtroom.
“No one wishes that on anyone,” Iskander said. “I promise I don't feel any hatred for her. My heart broke for her children. … It wasn't easy, but she will bring me closure.”
Iskander also took time to talk about his children.
Supporters of the Iskander family hug outside the Van Nuys courtroom after the verdict.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
“Well, they were children of the golden age. They love God. They were raised in the church. They were workers. They were honest. They cared about the truth,” she said. “And they were defended by a prosecutor's office that is also very hard-working, honest and cares about the truth.”
“Mark and Jacob did not die. “Mark and Jacob were killed,” he added.
He said his family was able to cope with the tragedy thanks to a large support group. “We are grateful for our community. “We are grateful to everyone here.” His son Zachary, who was five years old on the day of the accident, continues to deal with the trauma of losing his siblings.
Iskander's husband, Karim, said he hoped the verdict would be a turning point.
“We can finally move forward. Finally. We have been waiting for closure,” she said.
He also thanked the jury, saying they looked beyond “the imaginary conspiracy theories and tricks… and focused on the evidence and took it seriously.”
