Her sons were killed by Rebecca Grossman. Mother fought for justice, sees God’s will in murder verdict

Nancy Iskander arrived on the graves of her two younger sons a couple of hours after a jury on Friday convicted Rebecca Grossman of murdering them.

It was the tip of a wrenching day. Three years after Grossman sped via a Westlake Village crosswalk in her Mercedes, hitting Iskander’s sons as she watched in horror, she had lastly discovered some stage of closure.

“Somebody was held accountable in your homicide sons. Sleep tight. Relaxation in peace,” she wrote on X together with a nightfall photograph of the marble gravestone.

It took jurors a bit of over in the future to convict Rebecca Grossman on all fees.

In doing so, the jurors appeared to embrace the prosecution’s case that Grossman — the scion of a outstanding medical household — was reckless and impaired by margaritas and Valium when she plowed via the residential intersection and hit the kids as they walked in a marked crosswalk.

The jury convicted Grossman on two counts of homicide, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one depend of hit-and-run leading to loss of life. These had been the utmost fees sought by prosecutors. The jury may have opted for lesser fees, resembling vehicular manslaughter with unusual negligence.

For Iskander, it was a second of satisfaction and grief. She had been bearing witness for her boys, testifying in court docket and demanding authorities take the case significantly.

“My household has been ready for this for 3 and a half years now. I’ve been ready for the belief of the justice system. So right now we’re simply giving glory to God, the God of Mark and Jacob has been with us via that point and helped us via, carried us,” she mentioned exterior of court docket.

She mentioned sitting via the high-profile trial “felt like I’m attending the funeral of the boys once more, day after day. That’s the way it felt, seeing the defendant and protection attorneys.”

However with the conviction she felt, it was all price it.

“We had been trusting the justice system,” she mentioned. “We’ve got a justice system you possibly can belief from our expertise. It’s not a justice system the place folks get away with issues slightly below the colour of their pores and skin or their wealth or something. You commit against the law, you can be held accountable.”

On Sept. 29, 2020, once Iskander and her three sons approached the crosswalk, carrying inline skates, she started to cross Triunfo Canyon Highway at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was subsequent to her on his scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, additionally carrying inline skates, adopted a bit of over arms size behind.

Prosecutors accused Grossman of reaching 81 mph earlier than flippantly braking and hitting the brothers at 73 mph, primarily based on the automotive’s knowledge recorder and the space Mark was discovered from the crosswalk.

Prosecutors allege Grossman, 60, had cocktails together with her then-boyfriend Scott Erickson, a former Dodgers pitcher, after which raced with him — he in his black Mercedes sport utility car and she or he in her white Mercedes SUV — alongside Triunfo Canyon Highway till they reached a crosswalk.

Prosecutors even have alleged that Grossman traveled a 3rd of a mile after slamming into the kids earlier than security options in her automotive robotically shut it down.

Iskander’s witness testimony was a extremely charged second within the trial, as she described watching Grossman’s SUV plowing into her sons.

“I heard the loud noise, and I heard the motive force of that automotive stored going,” Iskander instructed jurors. “I began screaming, ‘I can’t discover them.’”

“No one got here again to assist,” Iskander mentioned. “She didn’t come again to the scene.”

“She killed my children,” Iskander mentioned of Grossman. “They aren’t at college. They don’t seem to be enjoying sports activities. They’re on the cemetery.”

Grossman was taken into custody after the decision. She faces a sentence of 34 years to life in jail primarily based on the conviction. Grossman’s lead lawyer, Tony Buzbee, referred to as the decision surprising and vowed to attraction.

Nancy Iskander mentioned it didn’t convey her any pleasure to see Grossman in handcuffs. Grossman’s daughter overcome with emotion yelled “Oh My God” as the primary phrase responsible echoed throughout the courtroom.

“Nobody needs that on anybody,” Iskander mentioned. “I promise I wouldn’t have any hate for her. My coronary heart broke for her kids. … It wasn’t simple, however it’ll convey me closure.”

Iskander additionally took time to speak about her sons.

Supporters of the Iskander household embrace exterior Van Nuys courtroom after the decision.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Instances)

“Nicely, they had been golden-age kids. They love God. They had been raised on the church. They had been hardworking. They had been sincere. They cared in regards to the fact,” she mentioned. “And so they had been spoken for by a prosecution who’s additionally simply that hardworking, sincere, who cared in regards to the fact.”

“Mark and Jacob didn’t die. Mark and Jacob had been murdered,” she added.

She mentioned her household was ready to deal with the tragedy due to a big help group. “We’re grateful for our group. We’re grateful to everybody right here.” Her son Zachary, who was 5 on the day of the crash, continues to cope with the trauma of shedding his brothers.

Iskander’s husband, Karim, mentioned he hoped the decision could be a turning level.

“We lastly can transfer on. Lastly. We’ve got been ready for the closure,” he mentioned.

He additionally thanked the jury, saying they noticed previous “the imaginary conspiracy theories and methods…. and centered on the proof and so they took it significantly.”