Trial is expected to begin this month for a social media personality accused of fatally shooting his wife and another man at an East Village high-rise apartment building in the fall of 2021.
Ali Nasser Abulaban, 31, who went by the handle JinnKid on various social media platforms, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, allegations of using a handgun in the slayings, and a special-circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted and prosecutors choose to pursue capital punishment. He remains in custody without bail.
Abulaban is charged in the shooting deaths of his then 28-year-old wife, Ana Abulaban, and 29-year-old Rayburn Cardenas Barron at the Spire San Diego luxury apartment complex.
Next week, Abulaban is scheduled for a readiness hearing at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in San Diego's downtown Superior Court, where he is expected to be represented by public defender Jodi Green during proceedings presided over by Judge Jeffrey Fraser. The prosecution's case will be led by Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast.
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Then, nearly two and a half years since the slayings, on the Monday of the following week, jury selection is expected to begin for Abulabon in Dept. 2002 at the same time in the same courtroom.
Fraser has overseen high-profile cases in the past, including the fatal stabbing of a Marine in the Gaslamp in 2017; the trial of police officer Anthony Arevalos, who preyed on young, female drivers during traffic stops from 2009-11; and, more recently, the case of a San Diego man whose life was made "hell" by a former roommate convicted of stealing his passport and giving it to police when he was arrested for several crimes.
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NBC 7 reached out to prosecutors on Friday regarding the case and was told by a spokeswoman that her office was unable to provide comments on open cases. An email to the county sent the same day asking for a statement by the public defender's office was replied to by a county representative with a terse "We do not comment on pending cases.”
The Case
Police were called around 3:10 p.m. Oct. 21, 2021, to the downtown high rise, where they found both victims dead on a couch in the living room of the Abulabans' 35th-floor unit, according to preliminary hearing testimony.
With his 5-year-old daughter in the car, Abulaban was stopped by police later that day near the interchange of the 805 and 15 freeways and arrested, according to investigators.
Prosecutors allege Abulaban believed his wife was cheating on him with Barron, though Brast said Ana Abulaban had moved on from their marriage long before the shooting.
Brast said the couple had been separated "for quite some time," but the defendant continued to pursue reconciliation with his wife.
According to preliminary hearing testimony, the fallout of the Abulabans' marriage was precipitated by incidents of domestic violence and indications that Abulaban had been cheating on his wife with other women.
A husband and wife who lived across from the Abulabans separately testified that about a month prior to the shooting, Ana Abulaban had knocked on their door and asked them to call the police because she said her husband had hit her. They testified that she asked to use their phone because she said the defendant had taken hers.
They also testified that the police had been called to the Abulabans' unit several times in the months leading up to the shooting.
SDPD Det. Sgt. Christopher Leahy testified that nine prior calls for service were made to the couple's apartment since July of 2021, but Abulaban was not arrested in connection with any of those incidents.
One of Ana's friends told police that she had planned on getting a restraining order against the defendant, though no restraining order was ultimately filed, according to testimony.
Though it was agreed that Abulaban would move out of their apartment, prosecutors allege he secretly made a copy of the apartment key.
He allegedly later told investigators that while his wife was away on the morning of Oct. 21, he used the copied key to enter the apartment, vandalized the unit, then installed an app on his daughter's iPad that allowed him to monitor live audio inside the apartment.
While listening to the app later that day, he overheard his wife and a man "giggling," Leahy testified, then drove to the complex from a Mission Bay hotel where he was staying. Investigators said Al shot Barron three times — in the neck, cheek and back of the head at close range — and also fired one bullet into his wife’s forehead.
There is also Nest video from a neighbor's apartment showing Ali leaving the home, Deputy District Attorney Taran Brast said in 2022.
When Abulaban was taken into custody, the couple’s 5-year-old daughter was with him in the vehicle, leading to speculation that she had been in the home during the killings. However, on Monday, Brast said she was not at home at the time and had been picked up by Abulaban at school afterward.
Brast said that Abulaban confessed to the killing both to his mother as well as to the police. He also, at the time, told his daughter, he "hurt mommy," Brast told the court on Monday.
Ali's Abulaban’s Social Media Presence
Prior to the shooting, Ali Abulaban had gained some fame as a TikToker with the handle JinnKid, garnering nearly a million followers, and also posted frequently on his YouTube Channel, where he had 170,000 subscribers.
Most of Ali’s content appeared to be focused on comedy and impersonations, with Ana making occasional appearances. The week prior to the slayings, he posted voice impressions of Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, 6ix9ine and Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface.
