Former TikTok star Ali Abulaban, who was found guilty in May of murdering his estranged wife and the man he thought she was dating, has been sentenced to life in prison.
On Friday, September 6, a California judge sentenced Abulaban, 32, to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murders of Ana Abulaban, 28, and her friend, Rayburn Barron, 29, plus another 50 years behind bars for gun enhancement charges, Emily Cox of the San Diego County Superior Court confirmed to Us Weekly.
The former social media star, who was known online as JinnKid, had his sentencing live-streamed on Court TV, where Judge Jeffrey Fraser accused Abulaban of committing a “cold-blooded killing without remorse.” He added that Abulaban’s actions were “chilling” and “very selfish.”
“The bottom line here is you will die in prison,” Fraser pronounced. “You will never be a free man.”
Per Court TV, Abulaban pleaded with the judge, stating, ”Being sent to prison forever feels like I’m being sent to hell and I don’t think that’s fair,” but was dismissed by Fraser as a “very talented actor” who was only remorseful because he “fears the consequences of his actions.”
Abulaban defended his actions as a crime of passion during “a drug-induced psychosis,” per San Diego 7. He apologized to the families of both victims, saying, “I am so incredibly sorry to each and every one of you who has been affected by this. I cannot imagine the pain I have caused your family. I saw the pain and the tears in each of your eyes and I hate that I’m the reason for it.”
Abulaban had already been estranged from his wife in October 2021 when, via a listening device he’d secretly installed on their 5-year-old daughter’s iPad, he heard the voice of another man in their San Diego apartment.
He entered the apartment and shot Barron three times, then turned the gun on his wife, shooting her in the head.
Per San Diego 7, his wife had texted him just hours before her death, “I want you out of my life, once and for all.”
“I couldn’t take the [expletive] betrayal,” Abulaban testified to the court through tears in May. “I’m shooting and I can’t stop.”
Abulaban and his wife had allegedly been weathering a series of marital troubles, including accusations of domestic violence, as well as infidelity on his part.
