Rebecca Grossman and the former Dodger must pay nearly $200 million for the boys’ deaths, a jury found.

Rebecca Grossman must pay $21 million and her ex-boyfriend Scott Erickson $1.17 million in punitive damages to the family of two teenage brothers killed by Grossman while she and the former Dodger pitcher were racing their SUV on a Westlake Village road, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The verdict concludes a nine-week trial in which a judge ruled that the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander owes nearly $200 million in damages for the September 2020 accident.

The boys, 11 and 8, were with their mother and younger brother when they saw the cars driven by Grossman and Erickson come running towards the road. The couple had been drinking at a Westlake Village cantina and were headed to Grossman’s to watch a presidential debate. Erickson revealed that he avoided hitting the two boys with his Mercedes-AMG. But Grossman hit the two boys at a speed of 73 mph, according to expert witnesses.

Grossman was convicted in 2024 of charges including murder and is serving 15 years to life in prison. Shortly before the court’s decision, the California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Grossman’s request to review his conviction for the double murder of the brothers.

The Iskanders sued Grossman and Erickson, and last week a jury found the boys responsible for the boys’ deaths, awarding $176 million in damages to parents Nancy and Karim Iskander and young son Zachary for wrongful death and emotional distress.

This week, Brian Panish, the Iskanders’ attorney, told a jury in Van Nuys court that they should award damages for the couple’s “evil” actions on the day of the accident.

“Just two words to know: Punish and prevent,” he said. “Killing people, driving at any speed – about 80 miles an hour – under the influence of alcohol and drugs in a residential area at 7 o’clock during COVID, it doesn’t get any more toxic than that. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen, and it happened.”

On Tuesday, Panish had asked for $20 million from Grossman and $1 million from Erickson in punitive damages.

Last week, jurors found that the two – Erickson driving his Mercedes just ahead of Grossman’s Mercedes – were “participating in concert in the performance of their duties which led to the collision.”

Jurors ruled that Grossman acted with cruelty and oppression and Erickson committed cruelty, oppression, or fraud, beginning the penalty phase of the trial.

Esther Holm, Rebecca Grossman’s attorney, told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday that the evidence shows her client did not intend to harm the children and that the $176 million has sent a message.

“He found out that he was running at a high speed, he found out that he was running…but there is no evidence that he is delusional,” he said, adding, “He did not see the children, and there was no agreement on the race.”

Holm told the jury that the question of punitive damages should not hinge on Rebecca Grossman’s wealth. Grossman’s husband, renowned surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, was part of the case because he had a Mercedes car that was involved in the accident, said Holm, emphasizing that his plastic surgery company should not contribute to the jury’s decision. The Grossmans were separated during a tragic accident. Rebecca Grossman is the founder of the non-profit organization Grossman Burn Foundation.

“There is nothing you can do in this court,” he said, “that can bring Mark and Jacob back.”

Testifying during the trial, former major leaguer Erickson told jurors, “I’m sorry for what happened. I’m sorry for my actions and other bad behavior that I did.”

“And there are no words to describe how I feel about what happened.” It’s been six years, not a day has gone by where I haven’t been sad and upset and wish I had done something different.

Asked what could have been more culpable than his actions on the night of the fatal accident, Erickson replied: “I think hitting the kids myself would be worse.”

Erickson told jurors he earned more than $46 million from Major League Baseball. Bad business decisions, divorce and taxes left him with $9,000 in his bank account, a $13,000 MLB pension, a $242,000 retirement account, and $200,000 in equity in the Las Vegas area. “I haven’t found a job since the accident,” he said. He admitted that he had two black Mercedes and presented a different Mercedes to the authorities than the one he was driving on the night of the incident, using the same number plate of the two cars.

Panish alleged that Erickson and the Grossmans had tried to hide the total value of their assets since the accident.

He asked Peter Grossman about a series of trusts, owned homes in Texas, Georgia and Hidden Hills and the transfer of money and assets. He played tapes of jailhouse calls between Grossman and her husband in which they discussed the Coinbase bitcoin wallet and another in which they discussed changing clothes for their children after the accident.

Panish said the surgeon’s testimony “represents the deception” about the family’s finances.

On Tuesday, during a plea for punitive damages, Panish said Peter Grossman was the only witness who denied his wife’s behavior and refused to admit she was the killer.

The day before, Panish had called the surgeon on the witness stand, asking: “Do you admit that your wife killed two children? Do you admit it? Yes or no?”

“I agree that Rebecca was wrongfully involved in the deaths of these children,” Grossman responded.

Panish then challenged him to “look that group straight in the eye and admit that your wife killed those two boys who were driving at a high speed under the influence of alcohol.”

He asked the surgeon: “You don’t apologize at all for your wife’s drinking and driving?”

Grossman: “Sir, I apologize to the Iskanders for everything they’ve been through.”

But Peter Grossman described the features of his wife driving drunk, speeding and hitting boys after going 82 mph in a 45 mph zone as wrong. He was tested several hours after the collision and registered a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit in California.

Rebecca Grossman, Dr. Peter Grossman and daughter in 2024 at the Van Nuys Courthouse (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Panish asked the doctor if it would interfere with him testifying because his wife killed two children.

Grossman called that comment “very disrespectful.”

But Panish pushed again. “Would you tell the judge right now that you are completely sorry for your wife for speeding, drinking and killing the children? Yes or no?”

The judge ordered the surgeon to answer, yes or no.

“Yes,” replied Grossman.

Last week, Grossman denied that he paid for a documentary about the case and said he was working with someone who made it. “I showed my wife the ugly pictures,” said the surgeon. Under cross-examination by Panish, he admitted that Marla Maples, former partner of President Trump, “ran away.”

In addition to the two counts of murder, Rebecca Grossman was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2024 and one count of reckless driving resulting in death.

Karim Iskander, right, and wife Nancy in Van Nuys in 2024 during the Rebecca Grossman trial.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

During the trial, Nancy Iskander testified that she first crossed Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive in rowboats with her young son, Zachary, next to her on his scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also in inline skates, followed a little more than an arm’s length behind. He said Erickson’s black Mercedes reminded him and his boys badly.

Grossman’s car hit the boys. Mark’s body was found more than 250 meters away with car grill marks on his body. Jacob was found across the street, experts testified.