Former TikTok star’s mother takes the stand in his double murder trial
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Day nine of the double murder trial for the former TikTok star Ali Abulaban included Ali’s mother on the stand, discussing Ali’s abusive childhood, Ali and Ana’s marriage and when Ali called her on Oct. 21, 2021 and confessed to shooting Ana just moments before that phone call.
As his mother walked into the courtroom and sat down on the witness stand, she blew Ali a kiss.
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Moments later, she was asked to identify who Ali was and if he was in the room. She began to cry, said he was her firstborn and said that she misses him.
Ali Abulaban — who went by the username “Jinnkid” online — is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for shooting and killing his wife, Ana Abulaban, and a man she was seeing, Rayburn Barron. At the time, the Abulabans’ seven-year marriage was coming to an end and Ali had moved out of the apartment.
Dalal Warra, Ali’s mother, described his childhood from when he was born on Staten Island in 1992. She said she was around 15 when he was born and married his father, who was in his mid- to late 20s. By the age of 19, Warra had three children.
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Warra said her other kids, Ali’s siblings, have given her harsh words, wanting her not to testify in court Monday.
Warra described Ali as a child as hyper and talented, but said he would often get in trouble at school because he couldn’t focus or sit still. She said when Ali was 14 years old, a doctor diagnosed him with ADHD, but claims there were other issues left untreated.
These included rebellious issues, Ali displaying a wide range of moods and anger issues, and sometimes Ali would throw items. She recalled that Ali’s father was very strict.
“I was afraid of him,” Warra said, referring to Ali’s father.
She said he would get angry quick, and he would physically and verbally abuse her in front of her children, including Ali. Warra said there was also physical violence between Ali and his father, when Ali was around 14 years old.
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During one incident, Warr said Ali’s father was upset while Ali was playing Guitar Hero and broke the guitar by hitting him in the head.
“You’re a loser, I’m sick of you,” Warra recalled Ali’s father telling him when he was a teenager.
She said Ali has always liked to make people laugh, but would get picked on as a kid.
When he was in high school, Warr said Ali often skipped classes and ended up graduating high school from New Directions Alternative School. Warra recalled that he went to college for one semester before joining the military.
She said she was “excited” for him to join, to be disciplined and “learn how to be a man.”
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The deputy district attorney asked Warra about why Ali was discharged from the military. The designated disclosure authority said it was due to a domestic violence incident where he had hit Ana, but his mom did not recall that as the reason.
She said during a time when Ali, Ana and their daughter lived with them in Virginia, she would sometimes hear Ali and Ana fighting, but said it was nothing unusual and they just sounded like a “normal married couple.”
Warra said she recalls trying to stop Ana from getting a restraining order because it would impact Ali’s clearance for his job.
Around 2020, Warra said she decided to leave her husband and, around the same time, Ali’s brother Sammy had a mental health issue and was incarcerated. The details surrounding that were not discussed during the trial.
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Warra said there was a time she traveled to San Diego to visit Ali, Ana and their daughter, and Ali’s father followed her to San Diego and “exploded” on her. She said that he convinced her to go back home with him and tried to save their marriage, but it ended.
She said around this time, she also knew that Ana and Ali were having difficulties in their marriage, and found out that Ali was struggling with drug abuse. Later, Warra moved to Las Vegas.
On the day of the shooting, Oct. 21, 2021, Warra said she recalled Ali calling her and telling her that he had just shot and killed Ana, and she didn’t believe him at first. She said she immediately drove from Las Vegas to San Diego, worried about where her granddaughter was.
She recalled when she arrived at the police station she talked a detective told her what had happened, and had said it sounded like “Ana had driven Ali to the brink.”
Clinical Evaluation
Dr. Francesca Lehman, a clinical and forensic psychologist, evaluated Ali Abulaban, and talked with several of his family members and friends.
During the evaluation, Ali claimed he lived in a verbally and physically abusive household growing up and said he was always a disappointment to his father who would say that he looks like him, but had the brains of his mother, and that his brother was the golden child of the family.
She testified that Ali claimed he was abused by an extension cord, which left welts on his back, and witnessed his dad throwing objects at his mother. Ali said because of this, as an adult, he had social anxiety around men.
She testified that Ali’s father had a severe temper, and said the family lived in fear of his temper.
Dr. Lehman said she attempted to contact Ali’s father to conduct an interview, but he never responded.
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Ali’s Friend
One of Ali’s friends, Konstantine Sarakanis, who he met in 2018 at the rise of his TikTok stardom in Virginia took the stand Monday, testifying about times he saw Ana and Ali together. He claimed that Ali had been empathetic toward Ana, but claimed that Ana was not kind.
He recalled a time in Virginia during Ali’s birthday when Ana became heated and “unreasonable” and got into an “altercation” with him.
Sarakanis said him and Ali had collaborated together on a few social media videos, became friends, and in 2018, Ali ended up getting a gun from Sarakanis. It was the same one used in the deadly shooting.
He said prior to Ana and Ali moving to San Diego, he never saw the two using drugs in Virginia. Ali had told him about an incident in September 2021 when he had become violent with Ana, claimed he has blacked out due to his mental health and cocaine addiction. Sarakanis said he told Ali to get away from Ana to get control of his drug usage, but that didn’t seem to happen.
Ali’s Workplace
Ali’s former manager, Clifford Goniea, also testified Monday. Goniea used to be his manager in the IT Department at the Naval Air Station on North Island. He said with Ali’s position he had secret clearance level.
Goniea said Ali began working for him in March 2021, and said from March through July, there were no issues with his employment. However, beginning in July 2021, he said he noticed Ali sometimes wouldn’t show up for work some days or not work full days.
Goniea said Ali requested a short-term disability leave beginning in July 2021, and returned in September 2021. He said upon his return, his employment was of normal behavior, but quickly fell back into the old patterns.
The last day Ali came into work on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, when Goniea told him that he needed to come into work everyday or else he would have to report it. On Oct. 20, Ali did not go into work, Goniea said he reported this and the intention was to have Ali terminated.
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