CONVICTED felon Rebecca Grossman has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a hit-and-run that killed two young brothers in 2020.
The California socialite was found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges in February for the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8 years old respectively.
The tragedy occurred in Westlake Village, just outside Los Angeles, when Grossman was allegedly racing her ex-boyfriend, former MLB pitcher Scott Erickson.
Grossman, 60, and her partner had been drinking at lunch before getting on the road and causing the deadly accident, prosecutors said.
Investigators said Grossman recklessly slammed into the children and then fled the scene after realizing what she had done.
R&B star Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies aged 74
She broke into tears in the courtroom as the sentence was handed down by the judge, according to Daily Mail.
The mother of the victims, Nancy Iskander, was also present for the sentencing.
The sentencing official, Judge Joseph Brandolino, explained his decision during the hearing.
"Her action was grossly negligent which led to the loss of two lives, and she engaged in incredibly selfish behavior," he said.
A TEARFUL APOLOGY
Through loud sobs, Grossman called out to the victims' mother as she was leaving to courtroom to ask for a word.
Iskander sat back down to listen to the felon.
"Please don't leave. All l ever wanted to tell you is I'm sorry. I just wanted to write to you. I just wanted to be a human-to-human, mother-to-mother. I wanted to leave this world because I didn't want to be here anymore," she reportedly told the grieving mother.
"God knows I never saw anyone... I don't know why God didn't take my life."
The guilty woman said that she had stood by her car for 20 minutes after the accident in a complete "state of denial."
"I just had a break with reality. My pain is nothing compared to your pain. I wish there was something I could do," she said.
Ken Block’s craziest Top Gear stunts from biker race to drifting as star dies
But the two women had had other opportunities to speak to one another in the past.
Earlier in the week, Iskander screamed at Grossman while speaking directly to her for the first time and recounting the horrifying experience of taking Jacob off life support after Mark had already been declared dead at the scene.
"She looked at me in the eye. She didn't get on her knees and she is saying she wished she could speak to me. You could have. She cannot claim, 'I wanted to speak to Nancy,'" Iskander said, pointing at Grossman.
"You were there! You looked me in the eye. you knew they were dying!" she said, although it is unclear where the two made eye contact.
Iskander detailed how she had to make the decision to take Jacob off life support after Mark was already declared dead.
"He was turning blue and I had to leave the room," she said.
AN EMOTIONAL TRIAL
Grossman's trial was delayed until January, over three years after the tragedy played out.
The socialite's defense team argued that her then-boyfriend Erickson was the one who hit and killed the children, even though witnesses pointed to Grossman as the driver.
Her lawyers claimed that the boys were initially struck by Erickson's car before being flung in front of Grossman's vehicle.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould picked apart Grossman's story in his closing statements.
There was "not a shred of evidence" to show that Erickson struck the children, he said, adding that the claim was a "ridiculous theory."
At the trial, Grossman's daughter Alexis told the court how her mother was sexually abused at the age of 11.
The defense tried framing Grossman as a humanitarian, helping burn victims and survivors of domestic violence in her free time after growing up in an abusive and impoverished home in Texas.
But the prosecution alleges that Grossman got her family, including her daughter, to lie about several aspects of her life and character.
Throughout the trial, Grossman had been accused of using dirty tactics to try to get her convictions overturned.
Prosecutors said that Grossman told her husband and daughter from jail to hunt down jurors and seek out witnesses to try to get them to change their testimony and sway the judge into giving her a new trial.
It is also alleged that Grossman told her daughter to release a sheriff’s deputy’s body camera video to the public after it had already been sealed by the judge.
At least three jurors also were reportedly contacted by Paul Stuckey, a private investigator for the family, despite their information being sealed by the judge, according to prosecutors.