CBS 8 San Diego/YouTube
Peacock's "TikTok Star Murders" tells the story of content creator Ali Abulaban murdering his wife, Ana Abulaban, and her friend Rayburn Barron, one month after she accused her husband of domestic abuse.
The documentary, which was released on Tuesday, details how the couple met in 2014, and by 2019 Ali Abulaban had started going viral after he shared comedy sketches on his account, @JinnKidd. He had nearly one million followers when he murdered his wife on October 21, 2021, at their home in San Diego.
Ana Abulaban's close friends told the documentary that the couple's marriage started to break down as a result of Ali Abulaban's controlling behavior. They said he controlled how she spent her time and berated her for not having sex with him.
Ana Abulaban, who was 28 at the time, went to the authorities in September 2021 and accused her husband of domestic abuse, The Los Angeles Times reported.
She asked him to move out of their apartment in San Diego's East Village and into a hotel on October 18, 2021.
During his trial at the San Diego Superior Court in May 2024, Ali Abulaban testified that he believed his wife was cheating on him, so he installed the Discord app on his daughter's iPad to spy on her, per CourtTV.
He said that he heard her talking to a man he didn't know, and then drove at "90 miles an hour" from his hotel to their apartment under the influence of cocaine.
When he got to the building, he started recording on his iPhone. He entered the apartment and saw his wife "cuddling" Barron.
"And before I could stop myself, I just fucking snapped and my gun was in my hand and next thing I'm shooting and, and I can't stop, I'm just shooting," he told the court.
"I'm like, I'm in the passenger seat of my own body. I can't stop it. And I hear Ana screaming and crying. I don't even remember shooting Ana, I just remember running back to the front door."
"TikTok Star Murders" features the audio Ali Abulaban captured as he murdered his wife. Several gunshots can be heard as well as Barron and Ana Abulaban shouting.
Executive producer Elizabeth Fischer explained to Variety in an interview published on Tuesday why the "brutal" audio was used in the documentary.
She said: "It was so important for the larger conversations about domestic violence, but also for the argument over whether or not this was a premeditated double murder.
"It was really important to stress the amount of time that took place between when he pressed record and rode up 35 floors."
The true crime documentary is the latest production by 50 Cent's G-Unit Films and Television. Since 2014, the company has produced the crime drama "Power" and several spin-offs. In April 2024, the rapper revealed that the company had expanded and unveiled its first studio facility in Shreveport, Louisana.
At the end of the trial in May 2024, Ali Abulaban was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for killing his wife and Barron. The jury decided that it was a premeditated murder.
Abubalan is due to be sentenced on June 28 in San Diego.
Fischer told Variety that Ali Abulaban was offered the chance to appear in the documentary but, "respectfully declined based on his impending trial."
