The latest crime documentary to take the internet by storm stems from the killing of a woman and her friend by a well-known TikTok influencer. As he awaits sentencing on a murder conviction, let’s sift through the grisly details the documentary highlighted.
Peacock’s “TikTok Star Murders,” produced by 50 Cent, tracks the relationship of Ali Abulaban and his wife, Ana. The two started their cute couple aesthetic videos on TikTok around 2019 and grew quite popular over the next three years gaining about one million followers. However, behind the scenes, friends say the two often got into explosive arguments stemming from Abulaban’s emotional and physical abuse, according to the documentary.
Police were eventually called to the couple’s home in September 2021 for a domestic abuse complaint, per The Los Angeles Times. Following that moment, the report says Ana asked Abulaban to leave their home and he shacked up in a hotel. However, during trial, he admitted to using his daughter’s iPad to spy on Ana while he was gone.
On October 21, 2021, after overhearing Ana talking to a man, he testified that he returned to the home to find Ana “cuddling” with Rayburn Barron on the couch. Then, all hell broke loose.
“And before I could stop myself, I just f****ng snapped and my gun was in my hand and next thing I’m shooting and, and I can’t stop, I’m just shooting,” Abulaban said in trial testimony last month. “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.”
The documentary features bone-chilling audio of the incident. About six gunshots ring out slowly in between the horrified screams of Ana and Barron. Following the shots, Abulaban is heard yelling Ana’s name. Executive Producer Elizabeth Fischer told Variety that as brutal as the audio was, the clip was necessary toward the debate over whether the killings were premeditated or a result of a mental blackout fueled by rage and drugs. His mother testified at trial that she received a call from her son, who confessed to the shooting and sent her a photograph for proof.
“I just shot and killed Ana,” he said repeatedly in the audio recording of the phone call. “She was with another guy at our house. I shot her in the head. She’s here, she’s dead. I killed her, mom. I’m sorry.”
Ultimately, the jury determined he premeditated the murder of both Ana and Barron and found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Abulaban faces life in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday (June 28.)