Ali Abulaban, a TikTok star, is on trial for shooting and killing his estranged wife and her lover. He testified in his own defense, admitting to punching his wife in a previous argument where she claimed to have slept with one of his friends. Abulaban had become paranoid about his wife’s infidelity and even bugged their apartment. When he found his wife and her friend cuddling on the couch, he said he “couldn’t take the betrayal” and started shooting, unable to stop himself.
After the shooting, Abulaban called his mom to confess and even sent her a photo of the bodies, which he claimed not to remember taking. He then picked up his young daughter from school and told her, “I hurt Mommy.” Prosecutors argued that the wife had kicked Abulaban out of their apartment days before the murders due to alleged domestic violence incidents. However, Abulaban believed reconciliation was still possible and thought she was giving her space.
On the day of the murders, Abulaban had ordered groceries and roses to the apartment, only to become suspicious when his wife’s responses were not as expected. When he installed a listening app on his daughter’s iPad and heard his wife laughing with her friend, he flew into a rage, trashed the apartment, and opened fire. Abulaban claimed he was not in his right mind at the time and that the flirty remarks Barron had made about his wife in the past had angered him.
Abulaban and his wife had a history of arguments about infidelity, with the wife admitting during a fight in July 2021 to sleeping with one of his friends. He claimed that cocaine use aggravated his emotions and that his wife’s infidelity accusations pushed him over the edge. The defense argues that Abulaban was not in his right mind during the shooting and that it was not premeditated. Prosecutors highlighted previous incidents of domestic violence, including Abulaban punching his wife, to show a pattern of abuse.
Despite being a popular TikTok personality with a million followers, Abulaban now faces two counts of first-degree murder and life in prison without parole if convicted. During his testimony, he expressed regret for his actions, indicating that he was overwhelmed by feelings of betrayal and anger at the time of the shooting. The trial is ongoing, with both the defense and prosecution presenting their arguments to the jury to determine Abulaban’s guilt or innocence in this tragic case.
