A wealthy California woman who co-founded a burn center foundation in the Los Angeles area was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Monday for the hit-and-run killings of two children while they were in a crosswalk more than three years ago.

Rebecca Grossman was speeding when she struck and killed Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, 8, while they were in a crosswalk in the Los Angeles-area city of Westlake Village on Sept. 29, 2020.

“The loss of these two innocent lives has devastated their family and our community. Ms. Grossman’s blatant disregard for human life is a stark reminder of the grave consequences of irresponsible behavior behind the wheel,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.

A jury convicted Grossman in February on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.

  • Hux@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    Grossman, now 60, was speeding behind a car driven by her then-lover, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, when she fatally hit the boys, prosecutors have said.

    Who the fuck is this person?

    As another commenter noted, she’s just listed as a “socialite”—translating to “unemployed idle person of/from wealthy family”. And on top of being a socialite noted for founding a burn victim charity under her husband’s name, she killed a couple of kids while speeding behind her former MLB playing “lover”?

    And the defense she offered was,* “If I had seen them, I would have avoided them”.*

    No shit, lady. That doesn’t make you a good person. Her response makes it clear she has never experienced accountability for her shitty actions before.

    “Listen, Judge—and you too, jury—if I was looking at all the things I was about to drive over, I would have totally not committed manslaughter. I really think I did a terrific job for how fast I was driving behind my lover. I really am the sort of wonderful person who would continue to drive fast and recklessly in a selfish fashion, and would even consider driving my vehicle into a tree rather than run over little boys (if I could see them) or change my behavior in any discernible way (I’ve never needed to before), or suggest that I am accountable for my actions (LOL). You see, when something bad happens (for me), it really needs to be someone else’s fault, or at least people should agree that whatever happened wasn’t that bad and I must have already suffered enough. Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough? I’ve probably suffered the most throughout this whole ordeal, out of anyone. I’m self-convinced everyone agrees with me and I can assure you that I lack the empathy to understand any other viewpoint. I think we are done here. Have the valet bring my car around, the Diamond Backs are in town and I’m feeling in a southwest sort of mood.”

    • athairmor@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I’ve met people who think similarly. For them, “I didn’t mean to” is exculpatory. Now, the ones I’ve known were under 12 years old but I can imagine if people let them get away with that enough that thinking might carry over into adulthood.