‘Rebecca Grossman killed these two children — and she committed murder,’ says prosecutor

By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH

A prosecutor urged jurors Wednesday to convict Rebecca Grossman of murder and other charges stemming from a crash that killed two young brothers, saying the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation was traveling at 73 mph when she plowed into the boys and that she drove about a third of a mile away before her vehicle’s engine turned itself off.

“This was not a tragic accident. This was murder,” Deputy District Attorney Jamie Castro told jurors during the prosecution’s closing argument in Grossman’s trial.

The nine-man, three-woman jury was expected to hear Wednesday afternoon from Grossman’s lead defense attorney, Tony Buzbee.

Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in the Sept. 29, 2020, crash in Westlake Village that left 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob dead.

Buzbee — who contends that Grossman was driving 52 mph “at best” — has put the blame on former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, whom he alleges was driving a black Mercedes SUV just ahead of Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV.

Erickson was described by the prosecution as Grossman’s boyfriend at the time.

The deputy district attorney described Erickson as “absolutely reckless,” but said “there is not a shred of evidence that he hit them, not a shred.”

Starting her presentation with photos of the two boys smiling, Castro said Grossman hit and killed “these two precious children” as they walked in a marked crosswalk. The prosecutor said the defendant “made the decision to drink” and “decided to drive at an excessively high rate of speed through her own neighborhood,” saying that an analysis of data from Grossman’s white SUV showed that she had been speeding at 81 mph just seconds before impact.

The prosecutor said the evidence, including statements from eyewitnesses, is not consistent with the defense’s claim that Grossman was driving 52 mph in the 45 mph zone. Grossman didn’t stop or call 911 after the crash, Castro said.

“She continued driving as far as her car would let her,” the deputy district attorney said of Grossman’s actions after the crash.

Castro told jurors that Grossman had “knowledge that speed can kill,” noting that she had been stopped by the California Highway Patrol several years earlier for speeding 93 mph on the 101 Freeway and had been warned that speeding is dangerous.

“Did she take this warning to heart? No. She threatened him,” the prosecutor said, reminding the panel of the CHP officer’s testimony that Grossman told him that she hoped he didn’t need the services of the Grossman Burn Center.

The deputy district attorney told the jury that Grossman was “name-dropping her husband” after the collision, and that one of the employees at the hospital where Grossman was taken for a blood test testified that she heard her say that she would have been in her garage if Mercedes-Benz had not turned off her vehicle.

The younger boy, Jacob, was being treated at the same hospital and was “dying,” and “this is how she is behaving,” Castro said.

The prosecutor acknowledged that there wasn’t a perfect investigation into the crash, but said that in the end “they got it right.”

“Rebecca Grossman killed these two children — and she committed murder,” the prosecutor told jurors, urging them to hold her accountable.

In his opening statement for the defense in January, Buzbee countered that the evidence would show that Grossman is “not guilty because she didn’t do anything — and someone else did.”

Buzbee insisted that a separate vehicle — Erickson’s — went through the intersection 2 1/2 seconds before Grossman.

“We will show you that is the vehicle that hit the two children first,” Buzbee said, adding that “multiple eyewitnesses either heard or saw two impacts,” with some saying they occurred three seconds apart and others saying they happened five seconds apart.

The defense attorney acknowledged that no one saw a vehicle driven seconds ahead of Grossman by Erickson strike the children, but said the defense will prove that Erickson’s vehicle hit the children first, and the victims “hit Mrs. Grossman’s car” about three seconds after the initial collision.

Erickson was previously charged with misdemeanor reckless driving in a case that was separately filed, but that charge was dismissed after he completed a diversionary program.

Buzbee told jurors that debris collected at the scene proves that there were “at least two impacts, likely three,” but he said investigators rushed to judgment to accuse Grossman of killing the boys, when in reality, “the car in front of her actually hit the children.”

He said the evidence will show that the children were not in the crosswalk — which he said was improperly marked — when they were struck. He also denied contentions that Grossman left the scene, saying she was so close to her home that she could have gotten out of her car and walked home if she really intended to flee.

Buzbee also alleged that Erickson stopped up the road, hid in the bushes and watched after the collision.

Buzbee accused law enforcement of failing to adequately investigate the crash, saying it was “not the best investigation you’ve ever seen.”

He said then that the defense would ask the jury to “use your courage and find Mrs. Grossman not guilty.”

Grossman is free on $2 million bond. She could face up to 34 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.