A TikTok star accused of murdering his wife after catching her with another man has given a harrowing account of the shocking incident, describing how he “snapped” and was unable to stop shooting them.
Ali Abulaban, 32, gave graphic testimony in his trial on Tuesday, where he said he had “barged” into Ana Abulaban’s San Diego high-rise apartment and flown into a rage after finding the couple “cuddling” on the couch.
Mr Abulaban, known as JinnKid, with more than 940,000 followers on TikTok, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder over the deaths of his wife, 29, and Rayburn Cadenas Barron, also 29. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2021.
Prosecutors allege Abulaban had secretly installed a listening device on his five-year-old daughter’s iPad tablet and when he heard his wife and another man talking went to her apartment and fatally shot them.
After the shootings on 21 October 2021, Mr Abulaban, still armed, picked up his daughter from school, Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast said at a previous hearing.
On Tuesday, Mr Abulaban took the stand and explained his version of events, describing how he had driven over to his wife’s apartment at 90 miles an hour after taking copious amounts of cocaine.
He told the court that he had not meant to kill the couple, but that he could not take the “betrayal”. It was like he was a “passenger in my own body,” he said.
“I didn’t expect Ana would ever do that to me,” Mr Abulaban told the court, becoming audibly and visibly emotional. “[Barron] of all people. She knew how I felt about him.” It is not clear how Mr Abulaban and Barron knew each other.
Mr Abulaban continued: “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. I was struggling from drugs and mental illness. And I f***** up a lot but I was trying to fix it.
“And when I saw that it was him I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take the f***** betrayal. I couldn’t believe that she could do that to me. To her daughter.”
“And before I could stop myself I just f****** 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. I’m even startled.
“It’s like I’m watching it happen. I’m like I’m in the passenger seat of my own body. I can’t stop it. I hear Ana screaming and crying. I don’t even remember shooting Ana.
“I just remember running back to the front door and I grabbed the door handle and then it hit me like ‘Did that just happen?’ and I turned around and I see her she had to lean forward and there’s blood.
“I couldn’t believe I did that.”
According to prosecutors, the Abulabans had argued frequently about alleged infidelity. At a previous hearing, Ms Brast said Ana Abulaban had asked her husband to move out on October 18 2021. He later checked into a hotel.
Three days later, Ms Brast said, Mr Abulaban sneaked back into the apartment and trashed it while his wife was gone. He also installed the listening app on his daughter’s iPad.
Hours later, Mr Abulaban was listening to the app when he heard his wife and a man, Barron, talking and giggling, Ms Brast said, and he raced back to the high-rise and security camera video showed him running out of the elevator to the apartment.
Ms Brast said Mr Abulaban shot Mr Barron three times before shooting his wife in her head. Mr Abulaban then called his mother and confessed, Ms Brast said.
After he picked up his daughter, he called the police while driving and they arrested him 45 minutes later. His daughter was in the vehicle.
Judge Kimberlee Lagotta previously ordered Mr Abulaban jailed without bail. The judge also issued a protective order that requires Mr Abulaban to stay away from his daughter, who is being cared for by family.
If convicted of all counts, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jurors are expected to begin deliberating toward the end of the week.
