TikTok star charged with killing estranged wife, lover recalls moment he opened fire: 'I can't stop'
'I’m like, "Did that just happen?"' Ali Abulaban says while testifying in own defense
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ali Abulaban, the San Diego TikTok star charged with killing his wife and her lover, testified during his trial on Wednesday that he couldn't stop shooting the pair after finding them in bed together, according to local news.
Ali, 31, is charged with fatally shooting Ana Abulaban and Rayburn Barron on Oct. 21, 2021.
"I didn’t expect Ana would ever do that to me, him of all people. She knew how I felt about him. She knew how I felt. 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 and struggling from drugs and mental illness," Ali testified Wednesday, according to FOX 5 San Diego. "But I was trying to fix this, and when I saw that it was him, I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take the betrayal."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ali also said while testifying in his own defense that he "couldn't believe" his wife would "do that" to him and their daughter.
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Ali Abulaban is charged with killing his estranged wife, Ana Abulaban, and her lover in October 2021. (Facebook/JinnKid)
"And before I could stop myself, I just f---ing 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, and I’m even startled," he told the courtroom. "It’s like I’m watching it happen, like I’m in the passenger seat of my own body. … I can’t stop it, and I hear Ana screaming and crying. And I don’t even remember shooting Ana. I just remember running back to the front door, and I grab the door handle, and then it hit me. I’m like, ‘Did that just happen?’"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ali testified that he first called his mother after the shooting and then 911.
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Ana Abulabar was allegedly in a physical relationship with Rayburn Barron at the time of their murders. (Facebook/Rayburn Barron)
"I called 911 to get them help in the chance to save her," he said, according to FOX 5.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Following the alleged double-murder, Ali coordinated plans with his family to pick up his then-5-year-old daughter and find a place for her to stay before turning himself in, the outlet reported. Ali said he went to collect his daughter from school that same afternoon before they were surrounded by police cars.
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Ali Abulaban is shown during his arraignment at the San Diego Central Courthouse on Oct. 25, 2021. (Jarrod Valliere/San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
He further testified that he told his daughter: "I hurt mommy. I have to go away now," FOX 5 reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors allege Ana asked Ali to move out on Oct. 18, 2021. He checked into a hotel but later snuck back into the high-rise apartment he shared with Ana and trashed it. He also allegedly installed a recording device on his daughter's iPad and left it in his estranged wife's bedroom in an effort to catch her with Barron.
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Ali Abulaban testified in his own defense Wednesday during his trial for the murder of his estranged wife and her alleged lover. (Facebook/Ana Marie Abulaban)
When he heard his wife with the other man through the recording device on Oct. 21, he returned to the apartment and allegedly shot Barron three times and Ana once in the head.
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Ali went by JinnKid on TikTok and had approximately 940,000 followers at the time of the alleged murders. His account featured comedy skits and impersonations of the character Tony Montana from the 1983 film "Scarface," said Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast after Ali's arraignment in October 2021.