Attorneys offered closing arguments Friday in the murder trial of a social media personality accused of killing his wife and another man in the East Village.
Ali Abulaban, 32, who was known in online circles under the handle “JinnKid,” is charged in the Oct. 21, 2021, slayings of Ana Abulaban, 28, and Rayburn Cardenas Barron, 29.
Both victims were shot on a couch inside the Abulabans’ 35th floor unit at the Spire San Diego apartments on Island Avenue.
Jurors began deliberating late Friday afternoon after the attorneys’ closing arguments and will resume deliberations next week.
Neither the prosecution nor the defense disputes that Abulaban killed his wife and Barron. Instead, the jury will be tasked with deciding whether the killings were intentional and premeditated or committed in the heat of passion.
If Abulaban is convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a possible sentence of life without parole, or he could receive a far shorter prison term if convicted of a lesser charge such as voluntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege Abulaban killed both victims because he was angered that his wife wanted to end their marriage.
Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast told jurors Ana Abulaban made it clear she was through with her husband following multiple incidents of domestic violence and his sexual encounter with another woman.
Abulaban testified that his wife may have threatened to divorce him out of anger, but Brast argued that Ana’s position was obvious.
“He wouldn’t let her go,” Brast said. “She wanted to be single. She didn’t want to be married to him. She told him that over and over, but he refused to accept it.”
Abulaban’s defense attorney, Jodi Green, argued that on the day of the shooting, months of suspicions about his wife’s infidelity were confirmed upon entering his apartment and seeing Ana cuddling on the couch with Barron.
In that moment, Abulaban, “overcome with what he’s seeing,” and “in a fog,” began firing, Green said.
Abulaban, who spent nearly three full days on the stand, testified that he “snapped” and “couldn’t take the (expletive) betrayal.” He said that the next thing he knew, “I’m shooting and I can’t stop.”
Green argued that though Ana stated many times that she wanted to leave her husband, she would repeatedly take him back, giving him “breadcrumbs of hope.”
Abulaban’s encounter with another woman – which he characterized as a massage rather than anything sexual – was the final straw for Ana, according to the prosecution. Shortly after that, Ana’s relationship with Barron began.
Green argued that Ana did not come clean about seeing Barron, leading Abulaban to believe there was still a possibility of reconciling. The attorney said Ana instead told her friends and Abulaban’s family members that he had cheated, but she denied it when Abulaban questioned whether she was seeing anyone else.
Brast argued Ana had no reason to reveal the relationship with Barron, because history showed that would simply make her the target of abuse.
Abulaban conceded on the stand to punching and pushing his wife on various occasions leading up to the shooting. Prosecutors also allege Abulaban punched her in the face while stationed with the U.S. Air Force in Japan, leading to his discharge from the military.
According to Brast, Abulaban was “possessive and controlling” throughout their entire relationship, dictating how Ana should act, what she could wear and with whom she could associate.
The prosecutor said Abulaban’s intention to kill Ana and any man she was with was formulated well before the day of the shooting. In early October, for instance, he texted his cousin that he saw Ana with another man.
“I’ll kill him, Abulaban wrote.
In another message, Abulaban wrote that he would “go to jail” if he saw Ana with a man.
Brast argued that multiple audio recordings of the shooting capture the sound of gunshots about one second after Abulaban entered the apartment.
Abulaban advanced towards the victims as he fired and both victims were shot in the head, Brast said. The presence of soot on Barron’s cheek indicated one bullet was fired at close range to his face, according to the prosecutor.
“Ana was his property and Ray couldn’t have her and that’s why he killed them,” Brast told the jury.
The defense’s case included a deep dive into Abulaban’s alleged mental health struggles, childhood trauma and escalating cocaine addiction, all of which attorneys argued played a role in his mindset both before and during the shooting.
Green said the collective issues mounting with his marriage and his mental health left him “emotionally manipulated, psychologically impaired and ill-adapted for all of this.”
Green, who asked the jury to convict Abulaban of voluntary manslaughter, said that the potential verdict would not represent “a free ride out.”
Instead, she said a voluntary manslaughter conviction “just means that’s how we label the behavior is appropriate and legally sound.”
– City News Service