SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Former TikTok star Ali Abulaban, known as JinnKid on TikTok, took the stand on Wednesday for a second time in his trial. Abulaban described the moment he shot and killed his wife, Ana, and a man she was cuddling with on the couch in their East Village Apartment.
During an intense and emotional moment in the courtroom, Abulaban explained his anger, and feeling of betrayal, after seeing his estranged wife was with another man, Raymond Barron.
"Him of all people?" Abulaban told the room, as he recounted the moment he barged into his apartment door, looking to catch his wife cheating. Abulaban says he could not contain his emotions.
"She knew how I felt about him," Abulaban said.
Abulaban later explained that Barron had previously made comments to him about his wife that he felt were disrespectful and that Barron had his eye on Abulaban's wife.
"She knew how I felt," Abulaban said. "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."
Abulaban says he was struggling with mental illness at the time and had a cocaine addiction. It's his defense for the shooting.
When the shooting happened on October 21, 2021, he and his wife were still married but were living separately. Abulaban admitted he'd physically abused Ana before, and had recently installed an app on his daughter's iPad to spy on her. The monitor app is how he knew Ana was with someone at the apartment.
"I f***** up a lot, 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 f****** betrayal," he continued. I couldn't believe that she could do that to me, to our daughter."
Abulaban says between the betrayal, the drugs, and his mental health condition, he snapped and pulled the trigger on his gun.
"Before I could stop myself, I just f****** snapped and 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."
Prosecutors attempted to prove that Abulaban was planning to kill Ana and Barron, pointing to the violence in their declining relationship, his internet search history, and the gun he brought with him to the apartment.
Abulaban though says the shooting happened fast, and it wasn't planned.
"I'm in the passenger seat of my own body," he said. "I can't stop it and 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," he said. "I'm like, did that just happen?"
If Abulaban is convicted on either count of first-degree murder, he will be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
