Jury deliberations begin in double murder trial of former TikTok star
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The 12 jurors now in charge of Ali Abulaban’s convictions have officially begun deliberating.
Abulaban is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He’s admitted to shooting and killing his wife Ana Abulaban and the man she was seeing amid a rocky marriage, Rayburn Barron.
The defense and prosecution each took about 90 minutes to deliver their closing remarks Friday, each trying to persuade the jury in a different direction.
The jury will deliberate to find Ali Abulaban guilty or not guilty of either first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or voluntary manslaughter.
Trial begins for former TikTok star accused of double murder
The jury trial began on May 1 and has been in session for 13 days. The prosecution and defense have gone through some gruesome and hard-to-see evidence.
The defense claims this was voluntary manslaughter, while the prosecution argues this was first-degree murder.
Former TikTok star’s mother takes the stand in his double murder trial
“So he is guilty of second-degree murder at the very least, because he had both types of malice. But there are murders that graduate to the first-degree, and this is one of those cases. A murder graduates to the first-degree if it’s also willful, deliberate and pre-meditated… He murdered Ana and Ray in cold blood and he is guilty, and I ask you find him guilty of both counts of first-degree murder,” the prosecution said during closing arguments.
Several of Ana and Ray’s friends and family have been in the courtroom faithfully since the beginning of the trial. Ali’s mother has testified, and his father was in attendance for the final day of the trial.
Former TikTok star takes the stand in his own defense
Judge Jeffrey Fraser said multiple times during the trial how attentive this jury has been to this case.
During the trial, there were a few times when some videos Ali had recorded yelling at Ana were shown to the jury, that made some of them flinch, seemingly in disgust.
The 12 jurors, made up of 5 men and 7 women, began deliberations late Friday afternoon, and will resume Tuesday morning, after Memorial Day.
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