A former TikTok star was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of his estranged wife and another man in their San Diego apartment in 2021.
Ali Abulaban, 31, did not deny killing Ana Abulaban, 28, and Rayburn Barron, 29, but testified that he “snapped” after finding the two cuddling on the sofa of the apartment the Abulabans had shared with their young daughter. The first-degree murder charges included allegations of using a handgun in the killings. Because the jury also affirmed the special-circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders, he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
He could have faced the death penalty if prosecutors had decided to pursue it, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The jury had to decide whether the killings were premeditated or intentional, or whether Ali Abulaban acted in the heat of passion, as his defense team argued. They began deliberating late Friday afternoon after an 18-day trial.
Ali Abulaban’s defense attorney argued in opening statements on May 1 that he had been “driven to the brink” by his wife’s rejection, and that his judgment was clouded by his addiction to cocaine and mental health struggles.
Prosecutors argued that the popular content creator — who performed comedic impersonations of Al Pacino’s “Scarface” character under the handle JinnKid — had carefully planned the killing in the wake of the couple’s separation. Ana Abulaban had for years been a victim of her husband’s possessive, controlling behavior and physical assaults, prosecutors said, finally culminating in her murder.
Before leaving to stay at a local hotel, prosecutors said, Ali Abulaban secretly copied a key to their high-rise luxury apartment. The morning of the killings, he entered the unit while his wife was away, installed a microphone app on his daughter’s iPad, and hid it in the…
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