- A graphic photo of Mark Iskander, 11, after he was killed by a car was shown in court on Tuesday during Day 3 of Rebecca Grossman’s murder trial
- Grossman, 62, is charged with murder over the September 29, 2020 crash that killed Jacob Iskander, 8, and his brother Mark
- The boys’ mother Nancy Iskander sobbed as the photo was shown and ran out of the courtroom
A graphic photo of the crumpled, lifeless body of a young boy, was shown Tuesday at Rebecca Grossman’s murder trial and 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 picture – shown to jurors by prosecutors – was taken by local Westlake Village resident Susan Manners just after the accident which she also witnessed.
Manners was walking near the crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road when she saw the Iskander family – the two boys, their mother and younger brother Zachary, 5 – about to cross.
‘They looked so cute, lined up like little ducks in a row,’ Manners told the court.
Rebecca Grossman, 62 – wearing a white jacket over a light blue blouse and black pants – showed up to court Tuesday with her husband, prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, as she has every day since the trial started. Their blonde daughter Alexis, 20, was also in court
![The boys' mother Nancy Iskander sobbed as the photo of her son's lifeless body was shown during the trial Tuesday and left the court. Nancy and her husband Karim are pictured entering court Tuesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80650251-13024743-The_boys_mother_Nancy_Iskander_sobbed_as_the_photo_of_her_son_s_-a-12_1706666082966.jpg)
The boys’ mother Nancy Iskander sobbed as the photo of her son’s lifeless body was shown during the trial Tuesday and left the court. Nancy and her husband Karim are pictured entering court Tuesday
![Grossman is accused of killing brothers Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander after plowing her Mercedes into the two boys in Westlake Village in September 2020](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80157539-13024743-Grossman_is_accused_of_killing_brothers_Mark_11_and_Jacob_8_Iska-a-13_1706666083042.jpg)
Grossman is accused of killing brothers Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander after plowing her Mercedes into the two boys in Westlake Village in September 2020
But this cheerful picture quickly turned to horror when she heard car engines ‘like a train was coming’ and turned to see ‘a pack’ of cars approaching ‘way too fast’ and bearing down on the family in the crosswalk.
Estimating the cars were traveling at about 90mph – twice the speed limit – Manners told the court that she jumped from the sidewalk into the bike lane, put up her arms toward the cars and ‘tried to wave them down…slow down, slow down.’
But they didn’t slow down, she tearfully added.
Instead she said, the cars sped on ‘one in the left lane and one in the right’ as they came to the crosswalk where she heard ‘two impacts’ a short while apart.
‘The car in the left lane hit the boy, ‘ she told the jury. ‘I saw his body go up in the air but I didn’t see the body come down….’
Manners, a realtor and semi-professional photographer, took photos of the tragic aftermath of the deadly crash, including the picture of Mark’s body.
‘I can’t even say how horrible the impact was,’ she said. ‘I knew that he (Mark) was deceased.’
Grossman, 62, wore a white jacket over a light blue blouse and black pants for the third day of the trial. She showed up to court Tuesday with her husband, prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, as she has every day since the trial started. Their blonde daughter Alexis, 20, was also in court.
She is charged with two counts of second degree murder in the tragic deaths of Jacob and Mark at a marked pedestrian crosswalk in Westgate Village in September 2020.
Grossman is also charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. She faces a maximum sentence of 34 years to life in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has a website proclaiming her innocence, titled, The Truth Matters.
Grossman, who founded the Grossman Burn Foundation in West Hills with her husband, has been free on $2 million bail since her arrest more than three years ago.
While prosecutors say it was Grossman’s car that hit and killed the boys, her defense team is taking the position that it was the black SUV driven by her boyfriend, ex-Major League pitcher Scott Erickson – with whom she had been drinking earlier – that was to blame.
![Nancy Iskander tearfully took the stand to testify at the socialite's murder trial Monday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80650255-13024743-Nancy_Iskander_tearfully_took_the_stand_to_testify_at_the_social-a-17_1706666083124.jpg)
Nancy Iskander tearfully took the stand to testify at the socialite’s murder trial Monday
![Iskander, the boys and her youngest son Zachary, 5, were crossing a marked crosswalk in Westlake Village when she looked up to see 'two SUV's barreling toward her,' she testified](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80602813-13024743-Iskander_the_boys_and_her_youngest_son_Zachary_5_were_crossing_a-a-11_1706666082964.jpg)
Iskander, the boys and her youngest son Zachary, 5, were crossing a marked crosswalk in Westlake Village when she looked up to see ‘two SUV’s barreling toward her,’ she testified
![The Iskander brothers 'didn't stand a chance,' prosecutor Ryan Gould said in opening statements in Rebecca Grossman's trial](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80517899-13024743-The_Iskander_brothers_didn_t_stand_a_chance_prosecutor_Ryan_Goul-a-14_1706666083044.jpg)
The Iskander brothers ‘didn’t stand a chance,’ prosecutor Ryan Gould said in opening statements in Rebecca Grossman’s trial
When defense lead attorney Tony Buzbee showed Manners a video re-enactment of the accident in which Erickson’s black SUV appears to hit both boys, Manners said it was not accurate.
‘I did not see it play out like it did in this video,’ she told the court.
But she added that there was ‘no doubt in my mind’ that there were ‘two impacts from two different cars.’
Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors and Grossman’s defense team got into a dispute over family members from both sides – the boys’ father, Karim Iskander, and Grossman’s 20 year-old daughter Alexis – being allowed to stay in the courtroom during testimony since both may be called as witnesses later in the trial.
First, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould asked Judge Joseph Brandolino to order Alexis to leave. She may be called as a witness since Erickson allegedly talked with her shortly after the crash.
Over objections from the defense, the judge told Alexis to ’step out of the courtroom.’
That prompted defense lawyer Ryan Pigg to tell Judge Brandolino ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’ and asked for the exclusion of Mr. Iskander, who was running ahead with his toddler daughter Violet in a stroller when the accident happened.
Despite a tearful protest from his wife Nancy, the judge told Iskander to leave the courtroom.
On Monday the mother Nancy Iskander sobbed on the stand as she looked at Grossman and said, ‘She killed them. Nobody stopped. Nobody came to help……She (Grossman) did not come back to the scene.’
Iskander and her three sons were crossing a marked crosswalk in Westlake Village when she looked up to see ‘two SUV’s barreling toward her’, one black and driven by Erickson and the other white, driven by Grossman.
The two cars bearing down on her family, both Mercedes, were going at ‘an insane, crazy speed,’ she said, fighting back tears.
‘They were playing, trying to beat each other some place. They were racing, constantly changing lanes, zig-zagging…..’
The black car was ahead of the white one at the crosswalk, she testified, and she grabbed Zachary and dove toward the bike lane and curb to avoid being hit.
‘But then the white car passed and killed Mark and Jacob,’ added Iskander who, after diving with her youngest to safety, turned her head to locate Jacob and Mark who had been crossing a short distance behind her.
But they weren’t there.
‘At first I could not find them,’ she cried. ‘Then I found Jacob and he looked like he was sleeping.
‘I kept looking for Mark and saw that he was way down the road and there was blood coming from his mouth and every bone in his body was broken.
‘I was screaming, I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do.’
![Grossman, 62, is charged with murder over the September 29, 2020 crash that killed Jacob Iskander, 8, and his brother Mark](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80653219-13024743-Grossman_62_is_charged_with_murder_over_the_September_29_2020_cr-a-15_1706666083078.jpg)
Grossman, 62, is charged with murder over the September 29, 2020 crash that killed Jacob Iskander, 8, and his brother Mark
![Erickson playedfor six MLB teams during a 15-year career. He won th World Series with the Minnesota Twins](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80654545-13024743-Erickson_playedfor_six_MLB_teams_during_a_15_year_career_He_won_-a-16_1706666083123.jpg)
Erickson playedfor six MLB teams during a 15-year career. He won th World Series with the Minnesota Twins
![Grossman - who has been free on $2million bail since being charged more than three years ago - has pleaded not guilty to all the counts. She's seen in a court sketch from Friday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80601429-13024743-Grossman_who_has_been_free_on_2million_bail_since_being_charged_-a-18_1706666083125.jpg)
Grossman – who has been free on $2million bail since being charged more than three years ago – has pleaded not guilty to all the counts. She’s seen in a court sketch from Friday
During her wrenching testimony Monday, Iskander told the jury of nine men and three women that of the day of the horrific accident the family had been cooped up at home because of the Covid pandemic and decided to take a walk for some fresh air.
They headed down Triunfo Canyon Blvd toward the lake in Westlake Village, she and Jacob on rollerblades, Mark on his skateboard, Zachary on his scooter and dad Karim running with Violet in a stroller.
Openly crying as Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould showed background photos of Mark’s smashed skateboard and Jacob’s ripped blue shirt, she said she chose to use the pedestrian crosswalk at the Saddle Mountain Drive intersection, ‘because I felt safer crossing on the crosswalk. With children…. it was the responsible thing to do.’
With Zachary by her side and Mark and Jacob a short way behind her, she was already three quarters off the way across the crosswalk when she heard the loud noise of the SUV engines speeding toward her.
‘I remember seeing the bumper of the black car coming to kill me and Zachary,’ she said, adding that she grabbed Zachary and leapt toward the side of the road she’d been rollerblading toward, narrowly avoiding being hit by Erickson’s SUV which was on the inside lane.
But she added, ‘Then I saw the white car (Grossman’s) pass where Mark and Jacob were…I saw the white car exactly where Mark and Jacob were. The white car crossed and the kids died.’
DDA Gould asked Iskander again, to clarify, ‘The black SUV did not hit’ the boys ‘but the white one did?’
‘Exactly,’ she responded.
![Prosecutors say Grossman was chasing after Scott Erickson - who was driving a separate SUV - after a cocktail-fueled lunch at Julio's in Westlake Village](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/31/01/80520129-13024743-Prosecutors_say_Grossman_was_chasing_after_Scott_Erickson_who_wa-a-19_1706666083181.jpg)
Prosecutors say Grossman was chasing after Scott Erickson (left) – who was driving a separate SUV – after a cocktail-fueled lunch at Julio’s in Westlake Village
When Gould showed her a re-enactment video of the accident made by the defense, showing the black SUV hitting the boys, Iskander snorted and said, ‘Complete science fiction.’
Under cross examination from lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee, Iskander bristled at his suggestion that it could have been the black SUV, driven by Erickson, that killed her sons.
‘I care about my kids ….and I know who killed them. I’m their mother, I’m the one who loves them the most.
‘My sons just died. Her car ran them over. I know that she killed them, I know. Please try to understand.
‘They are not at school. They are not playing sports. They are at the cemetery.’
Iskander was pressed by Buzbee, ‘Did you see the white car hit your children?’ She answered, ‘I saw the white car crossing where my kids were.’
When Buzbee suggested that it was dark at the time of the evening accident, she responded, ‘It was dusk – but it was light. I could clearly see the black and white cars.’
And when Buzbee asked if any other cars crossed the crosswalk after the crash, she said, ‘I didn’t notice….I was screaming. My kids just died before my very eyes.
‘I still see it every day, every night.’
Earlier on the day of the tragedy, Grossman had been at nearby restaurant Julio’s, drinking a margarita with Erickson and his longtime buddy, Royce Clayton, also a former pro baseball player.
On Monday, prosecutors called Clayton to the witness stand and asked him why, after knowing Erickson for 30 years, he’s no longer friends with him.
‘I do not understand how he could be so negligent and be responsible for running down kids,’ he told the jury.