TikTok Star Ali Abulaban Found Guilty of Murdering Estranged Wife and Her Friend

Ali Abulaban during trial. Screenshot/Court TV

TikTok star Ali Abulaban, 32, was found guilty of double first-degree murder for killing his estranged wife, Ana Abulaban, and her friend, Rayburn Cardenas Barron, at Ana's San Diego home. His TikTok profile (@JinnKid) reportedly had over a million followers before the crimes occurred. 

The TikTok star explained to the court that he was struggling with drug abuse and mental health issues when he found his wife in the company of her male friend in her apartment in 2021. Even though the social media star and his wife were estranged, he said he felt "betrayed" when he saw her with another man. Ali said, "My gun was in my hand and next thing I'm shooting and I can't stop. I'm just shooting," he told the courtroom. He 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."

Ali and Ana Abulaban

Abulaban's 28-year-old wife was reportedly in the process of getting a restraining order against him, as he had a history of domestic violence. According to Newsweek, "Abulaban allegedly broke items, threw Ana Abulaban's clothes down a garbage chute, and installed a listening app on their 5-year-old daughter's iPad the morning before the killings. Through the listening app, Abulaban heard his wife and her friend laughing in the apartment. He allegedly became angry and drove to the apartment to shoot them. Security footage from a neighbor was played during the trial. Abulaban is seen entering the apartment, then six gunshots are heard. Abulaban can also be heard screaming Ana's name and calling his mother to tell her what he had done. Abulaban's mother, Dalal Warra, confirmed that her son called her after the killings during trial testimony."

Abulaban reportedly aspired to be an actor and grew popular on social media after imitating actor Al Pacino in many of his skits. He will be sentenced on June 28 for his crimes. 

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