Former Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Scott Erickson faced tough questions in a Van Nuys courtroom Monday as a civil trial against him and Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, continued in the deaths of two Westlake Village boys.

In a separate criminal trial, Grossman was convicted for killing Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, who were at a marked crosswalk with their family on Sep. 29, 2020. As she is already serving 15 years to life in prison, Nancy Iskander, the mother of the deceased boys, is asking a Los Angeles jury to assess Grossman and Erickson’s liability and damages.

The Iskander family’s lawyers have argued Grossman and Erickson, who were dating at at time, were street racing when Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV struck the two young brothers. Mark Iskander died at the scene while Jacob died later in the hospital.

Erickson admitted during his testimony that he had deleted WhatsApp messages with Grossman after the accident. He also confirmed that he did not come forward about his involvement in the crash until the police called him more than a week later.

When asked whether he knew the boys were dead the day after the crash, Erickson said, “Yes.”

Erickson, who was driving up to 55 miles per hour in a 45 mile zone, also admitted to accelerating his car, instead of breaking, when he saw the boys. But he insisted that he and Grossman were not racing at the time, and that he wasn’t driving recklessly.

Despite deleting the WhatsApp conversations with Grossman, Erickson testified that he did not know whether the messages could have been critical evidence.

Last week, Royce Clayton, Erickson’s former teammate, took the stand and said Erickson had told him that he saw Grossman running over the boys in his rearview mirror. Clayton said he had margaritas with Erickson and Grossman before the crash.

Erickson was initially charged with misdemeanor reckless driving, but the charge was later dropped.

Monday’s testimony happened on Day 11 of the civil trial, and the court proceedings were expected to last for six to eight weeks.

Erickson was expected to continue to testify on Tuesday.