Rebecca Grossman: LA socialite who killed 2 young brothers in crash moans she's target of 'hate and anger'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A Los Angeles woman who is accused of killing two young brothers with her Mercedes in an upscale neighborhood in LA in 2020 says that she is the target of a 'lot of hate and anger' and has even contemplated suicide. Rebecca Grossman, 58, is waiting for a double murder trial for the tragic killings of Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8. Rebecca hit the two brothers with her car at 7.10 pm on September 29, 2020.
She was driving while intoxicated on the day of the incident as she had been drinking at a Mexican restaurant with retired Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson. Prosecutors have pursued murder charges on Rebecca even though she repeatedly claimed that it was a terrible accident. Rebecca and Erickson is alleged to have been racing their cars in the street, according to a witness statement. However, the socialite squashed the claims and insisted that the accident took place due to a poorly lit, poorly signaled crosswalk.
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The black box from Rebecca's vehicle shows she was driving at 73 mph at the time of the accident which is well over the legal speed limit of 45 mph. The boys had been with their parents and siblings at the time. Although the parents were able to save and protect their two younger siblings from getting hit, they could not reach the boys in time. Mark died on spot and Jacob died in a hospital a few hours later.
Flowers mark the spot where two brothers, 11 & 9, were killed last night while crossing a street in #WestlakeVillage . Deputies have arrested Rebecca Grossman, 57, in a case that involves DUI & possible #StreetRacing pic.twitter.com/LKbENieprI
— Gordon Tokumatsu (@GordonNBCLA) September 30, 2020
Rebecca claimed that she is misunderstood by the public and the police in an interview with Los Angeles Magazine this week. 'There is a lot of hate and anger out there... and that hate stems from believing everything that’s been put out there about who I am: that I have no remorse, that I’m this monster, that this hasn’t affected my life, that I just go about my every day as if this never happened," she said. "That’s just not true."
Rebecca insisted that she and Erickson are just friends and not lovers which was suggested by the boy's parents. She said she was plagued with guilt to such an extent that she considered taking her own life. "The thought of taking the easy way out crossed my mind. It still does from time to time," she said, according to Daily Mail. Grossman's husband is famous LA burn surgeon Dr Peter H Grossman.
Together they founded The Grossman Burn Foundation, where comedian Jay Leno was recently treated. "She cries every day. She is in an emotional prison that she may never be able to get out of", Rebecca's husband said. A website has also been set up by her daughter to prove her innocence. The family debunked police claims and reports which stated that Rebecca tried to flee the scene after the accident.
Rebecca is free with a $2 million cash bail. Her family says that she doesn't deserve to be tried for murder, and previously tried to have her charges downgraded to vehicular manslaughter which was denied by a judge. She claimed her rights have been violated by the murder charges and appealed to California's Supreme Court. A pre-trial hearing has been set for January 10.