The Brief

Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison with the possibility for parole on Monday for killing two young boys in a car crash in Westlake Village.

Grossman was traveling 81 mph when she struck and killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob in a marked crosswalk in 2020. The case, which saw repeated attempts from Grossman and her defense to shift blame in the killings, ended with her conviction of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run in February.

Grossman's legal team had sought to blame her ex-boyfriend, Scott Erickson, who they alleged actually struck the boys first in his black SUV. But jurors rejected that argument.

Grossman, who is about to turn 61, has remained in custody since the verdict after the judge rejected a request for her to remain free in lieu of a $2 million bond before being sentenced.

On Monday, the court heard emotional victim impact statements from Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mother, and other family members ahead of sentencing. "She is a coward," Nancy Iskander said, directing her words at Grossman, according to the L.A. Times.

The boys’ grandmother, Joyce Ghobrial, told the court: "I am just living the rest of my life to die grieving."

Prosecutors had asked that Grossman be sentenced to 34 years to life, the maximum allowable, writing in a memorandum that she has consistently shown a lack of remorse and is “more than deserving” of the highest term for the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander.

Grossman must also pay more than $47,000 in restitution to the Iskander family.

Mark and Jacob Iskander.

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Courtesy KCAL-TV

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In a letter to the court ahead of the sentencing hearing, Grossman maintained that she is “not a murderer,” despite her conviction, adding that prosecutors distorted the facts of the hit-and-run case throughout the trial.

Last week, Grossman's attorneys, James Spertus and Samuel Josephs, called it “a terrible accident,” but that it did not warrant what could effectively be a life sentence “or the type of lengthy prison term reserved for the most callous, heinous crimes."

L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón disagreed, saying he was deeply disappointed in the outcome of the sentencing hearing. 

“Our office recommended that Ms. Grossman was sentenced to 34 years to life in prison,” he said. “The loss of these two innocent lives has devastated their family and our community.”

A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.

They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, he said. The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The company, Shepard Bros., could not immediately be reached for comment.

Three company employees reported minor respiratory irritation and declined further treatment, Katon said.

The leak occurred in the city of La Habra near a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial warehouses about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Anaheim.

Keary Godinez, who works in a nearby restaurant, said she saw what appeared to be a dark yellow cloud spread across the sky. The 20-year-old said she watched students across the street board buses to evacuate, but police told her the eatery could remain open.

“It looked like pollen dust,” Godinez said, adding she didn’t detect a smell from the cloud. “It just kind of smeared in the sky and started going away.”

La Habra Mayor Jose Medrano had urged residents to shelter in place and said some streets were being evacuated.

Luis Gomez, who manages a nearby pickleball program, said earlier Tuesday he saw the cloud, called police and was told anyone within a mile radius of the location was under an evacuation order.

The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year.

The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.

The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.

After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise.

His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.

Jackson set the Lakers franchise record for coaches with 610 victories while leading his teams to the playoffs in every year of his tenure, which ended in 2011.

“Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad’s invitation to join the Lakers, Phil’s unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves.”

Jackson will be the ninth person associated with the Lakers to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside their arena. He joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bryant, O’Neal, broadcaster Chick Hearn and former coach Pat Riley, whose statue was unveiled earlier this year.

Jackson’s 11 championships as a head coach are the most in NBA history. The North Dakota native and former New York Knicks forward is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.