- Rebecca Grossman, 62, faces a murder trial for allegedly hitting and killing two little boys with her Mercedes SUV in 2020
- Eyewitness Jack Sands testified that he saw one of the boys go ‘airborne’ after being slammed into by the vehicle
- Sands said that neither of the cars involved, belonging to Grossman and her baseball player lover Scott Erickson, stopped to check on the boys
A distressed eyewitness saw a little boy fly into the air as he was fatally struck by a speeding Mercedes cops said was being driven by a killer socialite chasing her lover.
Jack Sands recalled the horrific moment he saw Rebecca Grossman allegedly strike Mark Iskander and his brother Jacob with her white Mercedes in September 2020.
He told a Los Angeles court Tuesday: ‘‘The black car tried to avoid the kids by moving out of the way. But the white car was just a few feet behind – I could see the white car hit one of the boys. I saw him go airborne to the right side of the road.’
Sands was a passenger in another car that was overtaken by the white Mercedes – said to have been driven by Grossman – and a black SUV owned by her lover Scott Erickson.
He said: ‘They were bumper to bumper.’ Sands said that he saw the Iskanders on the crosswalk with the older boys in the outside lane, lagging behind their mother and kid brother.
‘I thought that with that speed and force, it was too late, ‘ said Sands, adding that he saw Nancy Iskander grab her five year-old son Zachary and dive for safety before the SUVs shot through the crosswalk.
Rebecca Grossman , Dr. Peter Grossman and their daughter arrive at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse for court on January 30, 2024 in Van Nuys, California
![An eyewitness testified in court that he saw one of the boys go 'airborne' following the alleged car hit (pictured: brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, eight and 11)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/04/80664855-13026475-An_eyewitness_testified_in_court_that_he_saw_one_of_the_boys_go_-a-3_1706674857728.jpg)
An eyewitness testified in court that he saw one of the boys go ‘airborne’ following the alleged car hit (pictured: brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, eight and 11)
![The eyewitness testified that the white Mercedes SUV that Rebecca Grossman was driving hit one of the boys](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/04/80664875-13026475-The_eyewitness_testified_that_the_white_Mercedes_SUV_that_Rebecc-a-4_1706674857750.jpg)
The eyewitness testified that the white Mercedes SUV that Rebecca Grossman was driving hit one of the boys
He said that he saw both cars ‘touch their brake lights’ at the crossing, ‘but they continued on.’
Asked by Deputy District attorney Ryan Gould if he saw either SUV stop or return to the tragic scene, Sands said, ’No.’
And pointing to Grossman, Gould asked Sands if he had seen her return to the crash scene. Again he replied ’No.’
When Gould asked him, ‘Did you see a the black SUV hit a child?’ he answered, ‘No, I only saw a white car hit a child.’
Lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee tried to challenge Sands ‘ account of the accident, showing him a photograph of the road leading to the crosswalk taken from around the same place where Sands said he watched the crash happen.
When Sands had difficulty picking out the exact location of the crosswalk in the photo, Buzbee said, ‘You can’t even tell where the crosswalk is in this photo – how could you have seen a car hit a boy?’
But Sands insisted, ‘I saw the white car hit one of the kids.’
Sands friend Yasmin Eftekhari – who was driving the Infiniti car he was a passenger in – caused some confusion in court when the eye-witness account she gave conflicted with his testimony, though they both agreed that they saw the white car hit one of the boys.
Where Sands had said the two SUV’s were on the outside lane at the crosswalk, she said they were on the inside lane.
And when Sands said the black Mercedes was in the lead, she said the white Mercedes was in front when it hit one of the boys.
‘I saw the white vehicle go toward the boy – he was struck and came to rest on the side of the road to the right.’
When DDA Jamie Castro asked her, ‘Did you see the black car hit either of the children?’ she replied, ‘I did not.’
Earlier in court on Tuesday, a graphic photo of the crumpled, lifeless body of a young boy, was shown that sent the child’s mother running from the courtroom in tears.
‘My Markie,’ sobbed Nancy Iskander, getting up and fleeing the Van Nuys court after confronting the traumatic sight of her 11- year-old son Mark lying dead on the road after the crash that also killed her son Jacob, 8.
![The murder trial had gotten off to a tempestuous start on Friday with prosecutors and the defense arguing about what the jury could be told - and the defense claiming that an associate of the accused was 'hiding in the bushes' after the killings](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/04/80664883-13026475-The_murder_trial_had_gotten_off_to_a_tempestuous_start_on_Friday-a-1_1706674857713.jpg)
The murder trial had gotten off to a tempestuous start on Friday with prosecutors and the defense arguing about what the jury could be told – and the defense claiming that an associate of the accused was ‘hiding in the bushes’ after the killings
![Earlier in court on Tuesday, a graphic photo of the crumpled, lifeless body of a young boy, was shown that sent the child's mother (pictured here with her family) running from the courtroom in tears](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/04/80664857-13026475-Earlier_in_court_on_Tuesday_a_graphic_photo_of_the_crumpled_life-a-2_1706674857714.jpg)
Earlier in court on Tuesday, a graphic photo of the crumpled, lifeless body of a young boy, was shown that sent the child’s mother (pictured here with her family) running from the courtroom in tears
The picture – shown to jurors by prosecutors – was taken by local Westlake Village resident Susan Manners just after the accident which she also witnessed.
The murder trial had gotten off to a tempestuous start on Friday with prosecutors and the defense arguing about what the jury could be told – and the defense claiming that an associate of the accused was ‘hiding in the bushes’ after the killings.
Prosecutors claim the married socialite had a boozy lunch with her former LA Dodgers star lover, Scott Erickson, before getting into her Mercedes SUV and fatally hitting the two boys in Westlake Village.
Grossman’s defense on Friday, in their opening statements, said that they intend to show that it was Erickson – who was driving a separate vehicle at the time of the crash, after their lunch – who hit and killed the boys.
She remains married to renowned plastic surgeon Dr Peter Grossman, who has been filmed holding his wife’s hand as she arrives in court each day.