A jury found TikTok star Ali Abulaban guilty of murdering his wife and her ‘lover’ after telling the court that he “snapped” after she bragged about sleeping with one of his friends.
On May 30, Ali Abulaban, 32, who went by the handle ‘JinnKid’ on social media, was found guilty of shooting his wife, Ana Abulaban, 28, and her friend, 29-year-old Rayburn Cadenas Barron, on October 21, 2021, in San Diego.
According to The Huffington Post, Abulaban will be sentenced to life in prison without parole, because of the special-circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders. However, he could have faced the death penalty if the prosecution had pursued it.
As the verdict was being read, the judge had to pause the reading as cheers reportedly rang out in the courtroom.
The TikToker, who has a history of domestic violence, was allegedly kicked out of the couple’s apartment at the Spire San Diego luxury apartment complex.
Abulaban took the stand for trial on May 21 to face first-degree murder charges, where he revealed he’d grown so paranoid about her cheating that he used his young daughter’s iPad to bug the luxury high-rise apartment they’d once shared — then burst in and found Ana and Barron embracing.
“I didn’t expect Ana would ever do that to me, him of all people. She knew how I felt about him. She knew how I felt. I was trying to believe her. I was trying to believe that she wasn’t cheating on me, that she would let me fix this because I was sick and struggling from drugs and mental illness,” Abulaban testified, according to FOX 5 San Diego.
“But I was trying to fix this, and when I saw that it was him, I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take the betrayal.”
Around 3:10 pm on the day of the shooting, police discovered both victims dead on the 35th floor of the Spire San Diego luxury apartment complex.
Abulaban also said while testifying in his own defense that he “couldn’t believe” his wife would “do that” to him and their daughter.
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“And before I could stop myself, I just f**king snapped. My gun was in my hand, and next thing, I’m shooting, and I can’t stop. I’m just shooting. I’m shooting, and I’m even startled,” he told the courtroom.
Jurors then heard how he called his mom to confess — and even sent her a photo of the bodies, which he said he could not remember taking.
He then picked up his 5-year-old daughter from her school and told her, “I hurt Mommy,” the trial was told, according to NBC7.
His defense attorney denied it was first-degree murder, claiming he was “not in his right mind” at the time of the slayings.
Meanwhile, prosecutors peppered him with questions under cross-examination about a slew of alleged domestic violence incidents — including one in which he punched his wife in the face. Abulaban also admitted to hitting Ana in the face just days before the fatal shooting and that he’d previously urged her not to call the cops, the court heard.
He told jurors the pair had been arguing frequently about alleged infidelity on both sides and that Ana had claimed during a July 2021 fight to have slept with one of his friends.
Abulaban, who admitted to being high on cocaine, said the remark made him snap and he punched her three times in the face.
Abulaban, who went by JinnKid on TikTok and had nearly a million online followers prior to the shooting, made a name for himself posting comedy skits and celebrity impersonations, including “Scarface” character Tony Montana.
Ali Abulaban is currently scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.