SAN DIEGO (Scripps News San Diego) — Ali Abulaban, the TikTok star convicted of murdering his wife and her friend, will now be sentenced on September 6. His attorney requested that the sentencing, originally scheduled for Friday, be postponed.
Ali Abulaban appeared in court as a judge delayed his sentencing. (Scripps News San Diego)
In court on Friday, Abulaban’s attorney announced plans to appeal the conviction.
Taren Brast, the attorney for the Barron family, said that Abulaban has been posting on social media from jail or through a friend, which the family finds inappropriate. Brast asked Judge Jeffrey Fraser to stop it, but Fraser told the courtroom that it was not up to him, but up to the Sheriff’s office to stop Abulaban from posting on social media.
Abulaban, formerly known as “Jinnkid” on TikTok, was convicted of fatally shooting his wife, Ana, and her friend, Rayburn Cardenas Barron, in their East Village apartment on October 21, 2021.
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He testified that he intended to catch Ana cheating and admitted to the shootings, leaving jurors to decide if the murders were premeditated or in the heat of the moment.
Barron’s family, some of whom were present at the initial sentencing, expressed frustration over the delay. Barron’s sister said they had prepared for the possibility, adding that the last two and a half years have been miserable. The family plans to deliver new witness statements at the September 6 sentencing.
“We’re just praying to God that it’s finished today, so we can close the cycle and start hearing,” Barron’s sister said. “The last two and half years have been miserable. Waiting all this time for a trial, and the trial lasted a month. Now there’s a possibility we might have to go through all of it again. It’s just really hard.”
Barron is referring to the news of Abulaban’s plan to appeal.
Fraser said Abulaban has 60 days to appeal. The family members of Barron also plan to give new victim statements on September 6.
This story was originally written by Dani Miskell at Scripps News San Diego, an E.W. Scripps Company.
