Rebecca Grossman has a murder trial ahead after a 2020 car crash left two boys dead.
The co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation was ordered on May 5 to stand in trial for allegedly murdering two children in a hit-and-run at a Westlake Village crosswalk near Los Angeles. Grossman is facing two felony counts of murder, two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death, according to NBC Los Angeles.
In a statement to E! News, Grossman's attorney Dmitry Gorin said in part, "As a mother and a human being, Rebecca Grossman is devastated and consumed with grief. A fatal traffic collision was the last thing she wanted, expected, or could have foreseen that night. Coming around a blind curve in the dark and approaching an intersection, she did not see pedestrians."
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels determined the charges over the course of a five-day preliminary hearing. "The defendant was not rushing to get home; she was playing a high-speed game of chicken" with another person, Samuels said, per the Los Angeles Times. "I believe the defendant went well beyond gross negligence."
Samuels concluded that Grossman traveled 81 mph, going over the 45-mph zone, and struck the two boys—Mark Iskander, 11, and brother Jacob Iskander, 8—as they were crossing the crosswalk with their family, the outlet reported. The older brother died at the scene while younger one died later on at the hospital.
"They didn't stop before the intersection," the boys' mother Nancy Iskander said in a hearing, per LA Times. "They didn't stop at the intersection. They didn't stop when an 11-year-old was on the hood of the car. … Nobody stopped."
According to her lawyer's statement, Grossman was "cooperative and polite with the police officers throughout the investigation, and she expressed deep concern when told that children were involved in the crash."
Gorin said Grossman traveled a short distance away and waited for officers to arrive. "We urge the public to keep an open mind about this tragedy," he continued. "Ms. Grossman will be exonerated of the murder charges in this case by a jury."
Sheriff deputies arrested Grossman the day of the crash in September 2020 and was released Oct. 1 on a $2 million bond while still being barred from driving, the District Attorney's Office told NBC Los Angeles.
Grossman and husband Dr. Peter H. Grossman founded the Grossman Burn Foundation in 2007 to help burn survivors and their families globally, according to its website. The organization continues the legacy of Peter's father Dr. A. Richard Grossman, who died in 2014. He held the role of President of the Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons for eight years and was named Honorary Fire Chief for the City of Los Angeles in 1994, per the site.