NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
A jury has awarded $176 million to the family of two Los Angeles children who were murdered by a member of the city’s socialite.
Rebecca Grossman, the estranged wife of prominent Dr. Peter Grossman, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, respectively, after hitting them with her vehicle at nearly 80 mph in September 2020.
Grossman had prescription medications and alcohol in his system at the time of the 2020 crash, prosecutors told Pak Gazette Digital.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Rebecca Grossman walks with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, and daughter to the Van Nuys Courthouse in Van Nuys, California. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Although she was married to a prominent Los Angeles surgeon, Dr. Peter Grossman, she was running with her boyfriend, former MLB pitcher Scott Erickson, on the way home from a restaurant. They were each driving Mercedes-Benz pickup trucks at more than 70 mph and Grossman fled the scene.
Both were found negligent in the accident.
The children were walking with their younger brother and mother, who avoided the accident. The mother said she grabbed her youngest son and moved out of the way of Erickson’s car.
Rebecca Grossman, dressed in a burgundy jacket, enters the Van Nuys Courthouse in West Van Nuys, California, accompanied by her daughter. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Erickson started 364 of his 389 games pitched, pitching to a 4.59 ERA with a record of 142-136. He pitched for the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Erickson made a name for himself with the Twins, winning the World Series with them in 1991 and finishing second in Cy Young Award voting that season, trailing Roger Clemens. Erickson spent six seasons with the Twins and seven with the O’s before brief stints with the others.
Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in 2024.
Scott Erickson pitches for the Minnesota Twins against the Oakland Athletics during a Major League Baseball game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, circa 1991. (Focus on sport/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected a request by prosecutors that Grossman be sentenced to 34 years to life in prison, saying such a long sentence “is simply not justified here.” Fox Los Angeles reported. He called the children’s deaths an “unimaginable loss” but noted Grossman’s lack of criminal and philanthropic history.
