SAN DIEGO — Ali Abulaban is accused of killing his estranged wife, Ana, and her friend Rayburn Barron inside her downtown apartment last Thursday. To his more than 950,000 followers on TikTok, Abulaban is known as a funny guy, but a family member said the funny guy he knew changed as his marriage fell apart.
Louie Marinari said he hung out with Abulaban just three days before the murders and said his cousin, who was known as JinnKid on social media, was acting very strange.
“[He] pulled out a bag of cocaine and then I was like – ‘you're going to get us all in trouble.' He's like, 'I'm JinnKid. Nobody can touch me because I'm JinnKid,'" Marinari said.
He said he and Abulaban have been close since they were little kids. They often spent holidays together and played video games. He said Abulaban and his wife, Ana, moved to San Diego in February. She immediately started making friends.
“Her social life flourished when she moved to San Diego and I think he became extremely jealous of that,” Molinari said. “Extremely jealous and furious.”
For reasons Marinari declined to elaborate on, he said Ana's friends didn't want to hang out with Abulaban.
“He just became super jealous because his wife was going out with friends and he wasn't involved and he wanted to control her," Marinari said. "He wanted to know what she was doing every time of the day.”
Marinari said a text exchange he had with Ana last month made it clear that their marriage was crumbling. She asked her husband to move out of their apartment Oct. 18 but even as recently as three days before the murders, Marinari sid Abulaban thought this was all just temporary.
“He was in denial about it," Marinari said. "He thought they were going to get back together.”
Marinari added that Abulaban got physical with Ana during their marriage, but she never thought her life was in danger.
“To actually be murdered... I don't think she ever saw this coming," he said.
The couple had a daughter together. Marinari 's heart breaks for the precious little 5-year-old.
“I can't even smile right now because this girl is losing both parents and that's very sad," he said.
Abulaban is being held without bail in the downtown jail and prosecutors could seek the death penalty if he’s convicted.
“It's really sad to say, but I hate him,” Molinari said. “I have so much anger towards him and I hope they punish him to the full extent of the law because he deserves it.”
WATCH RELATED: Suspect pleads not guilty to killing wife, male companion in downtown San Diego apartment shooting