A former TikTok star has been convicted for the murders of his estranged wife and her lover in San Diego in 2021.
San Diego-based Tik Toker Ali Abulaban, 32, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for his wife Ana, 28, and her male friend Rayburn Barron, 29, on Wednesday, May 29, People reports.
In court, Abulaban, who had nearly a million followers for his skits under the moniker Jinnkid, broke down in tears as he learned the jury’s verdict.
He confessed to the murders during the trial and has been in prison since the October 2021 killings. He will be sentenced on June 28 and could face life in jail.
“Finally, my brother and Ana got a little bit of justice,” Barron’s sister, Jordana Barron, said on Wednesday.
“Obviously nothing is going to bring our brother or Ana back, but at least he is never going to be able to do this to another person again.”
On Friday, closing arguments in the case concluded and the jury began its deliberations, deciding whether the killings were first- or second-degree murder.
Abulaban was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with allegations of using a gun in the killings.
He was also charged with a special circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders.
The defence had hoped the jury would find him guilty of second-degree murder, meaning his sentencing would be far less.
He was instead found guilty of all counts and special circumstances.
It’s a relief. We’ve been waiting almost three years for this,” said Julia Stuntz, Ana’s best friend.
Since there was no dispute he killed the victims, jurors were instead tasked with deciding whether the killings were intentional and premeditated or committed in the heat of passion, as Abulaban had claimed.
“The jury came in and listened to the evidence for weeks, and they came to the right decision,” Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast said.
In her closing arguments, Brast went through a timeline of the day Abulaban killed Ana Abulaban and her friend Barron.
Brast described how Abulaban had spied on Ana to catch her with another man, and that he had malice and intent to shoot them to death on the couch in the apartment where he once lived.
“Heat of passion does not apply when you walk into an apartment that you had bugged, with a key card you were not supposed to have, to a fight that no one else knew was happening but you,” Brast said.
“And you brought a gun.
“That is not heat of passion.”
Brast said Abulaban had plenty of time to rethink his decision to drive to the downtown luxury condo he shared with his wife to shoot and kill her and the man she was seeing.
The prosecutor displayed the graphic photos Abulaban took of the bodies, played the sounds of the gunshot recordings he had on his phone and even mentioned the online searches for how to cut up and trash a body, among other things.
She said Ali Abulaban killed the couple because he felt disrespected, and this was planned and premeditated, not a reaction in the heat of the moment.
Brast also mentioned the history of domestic violence and Ana’s text messages to Abulaban expressing her fear and desire to leave the marriage.
She also outlined the chances Abulaban had to rethink his actions, including during the drive to the apartment to confront Ana and Barron, and even in the ride up in the elevator.
“It was wilful, deliberate, and premeditated,” Brast said.
Jodi Green, Ali Abulaban’s defence attorney, then presented her closing arguments.
Green told the court her client shouldn’t be convicted of murder because he had a bad childhood, mental health issues and was high on cocaine.
The defence attorney also pointed out the fact that Ali Abulaban was re-racking his gun in between shots, which is unnecessary, and that it proves he was out of his mind, as well that he had cocaine in his system eight hours later, proving he was not of sound mind.
“Ali Abulaban is not a murderer,” Green said.
“Yes, he killed Ana, the woman he loved, the mother of his beautiful daughter, Amira, and he killed Ray, a man with whom Ana was having an affair.
“And he cannot undo what he has done.
“But he did not murder them. He is not a murderer.”