Ali Abulaban, who previously produced TikTok content as JinnKid, admitted in his double-murder trial that he "snapped" when he saw his wife with another man.
Per NBC San Diego, 32-year-old Abulaban is on trial for the murders of his wife Ana Abulaban and her alleged lover Rayburn Cardenas Barron. During his testimony amid the ongoing trial, Abulaban testified that he suspected his wife had been cheating on him for months and "snapped" when he came into their apartment to find her "cuddling" another man.
"I couldn't take the fucking betrayal," he said, after which he admitted that he found himself "in the passenger seat of my own body."
Abulaban has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of his wife, 28, and her alleged lover, 29, on Oct. 21, 2021. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to prosecutors, he secretly recorded his wife's interactions with another man via their five-year-old daughter's iPad.
During his testimony, Abulaban admitted he drove to the apartment over the speed limit after taking cocaine. "I didn’t expect Ana would ever do that to me," he said in court. "[Barron] of all people. She knew how I felt about him."
Following the shooting, he picked up his daughter from school and told her, "I hurt Mommy."
"I was trying to believe [Ana]. 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," he added.
"Before I could stop myself I just fucking 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," he said. "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."
Just days before the shooting, Ana Abulaban told Ali to move out after repeated arguments about infidelity. He admitted in court that he hit her during one of these arguments. Prosecutors have argued that it's clear the marriage was in disarray, and Ana wanted to separate after Ali allegedly slept with another woman in the same apartment building.
Abulaban called his mother after shooting Rayburn Cardenas Barron three times and shooting his wife in the head. During the call, he confessed to the murders and sent her a picture of the victim's bodies.
