Jury orders socialite, ex-MLB pitcher to pay $176M in deaths of two boys struck in crosswalk
A Los Angeles County jury on Monday delivered a $176 million verdict against socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson, holding both responsible for the deaths of two young brothers who were struck and killed while crossing a street in Westlake Village in 2020.
The award — one of the largest wrongful death judgments in recent Ventura County history — includes $107 million for the boys' parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and an additional $69 million for severe emotional distress suffered by the mother and the brothers' younger sibling, Zachary, who witnessed the crash.
Jurors deliberated for two days before concluding that both Grossman and Erickson were negligent and that their negligence was a substantial factor in the deaths of Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8. The court had already determined Grossman's negligence as a matter of law, leaving the jury to assess damages and apportion fault.
The civil case stemmed from the evening of Sept. 29, 2020, when the Iskander family — mother and three boys — were crossing a marked crosswalk near Westlake Lake. Witnesses testified that they saw and heard two SUVs racing toward the intersection at high speed. Grossman, driving a white Mercedes SUV, struck both children. Erickson, behind the wheel of a black SUV, passed through the crosswalk without hitting anyone.
Brian Panish, the Iskander family's attorney, argued that Erickson was racing Grossman after a night of drinking at a local bar and that his reckless behavior contributed to the tragedy. “They sped past people biking and walking,” Panish said in court. “Grossman was driving up to 80-plus miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. Erickson was right there with her.”
Erickson testified that he had not been impaired and denied racing, but admitted to lying multiple times — to police, to attorneys and about which vehicle he was driving. He also acknowledged deleting months of messages between himself and Grossman after the crash. Investigators discovered he had been swapping license plates between vehicles, a practice called cold plating, and had not registered the SUV he drove that night.
The verdict marks a stark contrast in the legal outcomes for the two defendants. Grossman, now 62, was convicted in 2024 of two counts of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving. She is serving 15 years to life in state prison, and her appeal is pending before the California Supreme Court. Erickson faced only a misdemeanor reckless driving charge, which was dismissed after he completed a diversion program.
During the civil trial, Erickson testified under tense cross-examination for multiple days. His attorney argued that $10 million would be a fair award; Panish had suggested the jury could go as high as $439 million. The Grossman family's attorney urged a “reasonable” verdict and had tried to shift blame to the city of Westlake Village, claiming the crosswalk was poorly designed. Jurors rejected that argument, finding the road was not dangerous.
The jury also found that both Grossman and Erickson acted with malice or oppression, opening the door for punitive damages. A second phase of the trial, expected to examine the defendants' financial holdings, will determine whether additional penalties are imposed. Panish has indicated he plans to call Peter Grossman, Rebecca's husband and the registered owner of the vehicle, as a witness.
The case has drawn widespread attention not only because of the high-profile defendants — Grossman is the wife of a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, and Erickson pitched for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees — but also because it underscores the legal system's ability to hold individuals accountable even when criminal outcomes differ. Legal experts say the civil verdict sends a strong message about shared responsibility in reckless driving incidents.
“This wasn't just a tragic accident,” said Santa Barbara-based attorney Denise Hale, who was not involved in the case. “The jury saw a pattern of behavior — racing, drinking, lying — and decided that both drivers had a hand in destroying a family. The $176 million figure reflects the depth of that loss.”
Mark Iskander, a sixth-grader who loved soccer, and Jacob Iskander, a third-grader who dreamed of becoming a firefighter, were described by their parents as inseparable. Their mother, Nancy, testified that she grabbed Zachary and dove out of the path of the black SUV, only to look up and see the white Mercedes where her two older sons had been standing. Paramedics rushed Jacob to a hospital in Thousand Oaks, where he died. Mark was killed instantly.
The Iskanders have said they hope the verdict brings some measure of accountability and prevents similar tragedies. “No amount of money brings back our boys,” Nancy Iskander said in a statement released through her attorneys. “But we hope this sends a clear message that reckless driving has devastating consequences.”