The TikTok Double Homicide - The Murder of Ana Abulaban and Rayburn Barron

February 2, 2026

In this episode, Garrett and Payton break down the chilling case of a TikTok personality whose online persona blurred into real life. What began as imitation of a fictional villain spiraled into obsession, control, and ultimately a brutal double homicide.

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to an Oh No Media podcast.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast.
This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Payton Moreland.

I'm Garrett Moreland.

And he's the husband.

And I'm the husband.

Happy, happy Monday. Hope everyone is having a fantastic day.
Week two on Netflix, here we are. Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. Thank you for supporting. Thank you for following. I'm glad you guys are here.

What a weird week it was.

I know. It was weird.

It was weird…
Wait, I wanted to say something.

Sorry, not to harp on it, but if you are new, go over to our Instagram and let us know that you found us via Netflix, because I want to get to know the Netflix listeners—or watchers, I guess you guys would be.

Just a reminder, if you are listening via audio, we have bonus audio episodes on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions. You can hear extra episodes that we release that are audio-only. So if you are a video watcher, you'll want to hear us there. If you are an audio listener, you'll want to be on one of those platforms, and you can get bonus content and ad-free content.

We have merch. We’ve got a lot of merch going on right now, mwmhshop.com. Check it out on our Instagram, check it out on all our socials. You can get links to all of our stuff. Go check it out.

Okay, I think that puts us right into your ten seconds. Enough with the announcements. Ten seconds.

I'm getting sick. I'm not feeling good. I'm getting a sore throat. I posted about this on my Instagram before, but sore throats have to be the worst thing. Like, there is nothing worse than a sore throat.

If you're congested, you can take medicine. You have a headache, you can take medicine. Body aches suck, but I mean, they go away and you just sleep all day. I haven't found anything I can do about a sore throat.

I have taken everything under the sun. I have tried every home remedy. Unless someone has some crazy witchcraft drink I can drink, I just… I can feel it. I know it's happening, and I know that tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and be like, “Oh my gosh, this sucks.”

Anyways, that's my ten seconds. I'm getting a little sick. That's okay. Also, if anyone has any tips, I kind of need some help.

Daisy is probably the best dog in the world. Like, she's amazing. She's so trained. She never has any accidents. She's just a good dog. But—and maybe it's my fault, maybe it's our fault—she gets me up at the same time every night at around 3:30 a.m. because she needs to go to the bathroom.

And she does need to go, so I don't know if we're giving her water too… The problem is that she goes poop. It's not that she goes pee because we're giving her water. She takes a dump at 3:30 a.m. every single night.

She's embarrassed.

And I get up, and I take her, and it's 10 degrees outside. And I sit there and I'm like, “Daisy, please hurry up.” And she takes a dump every night, and I don't really know what to do.

We can't do a doggy door. She's too small to be going outside. There are big animals that could get her, so she can't go out alone. So I have to take her out, and that's fine. I do it every single night. But if anyone has any tricks… It doesn't matter what time we feed her. I'll feed her at 12 in the afternoon or I'll feed her at 11 o'clock at night. 3:30 a.m. Dump.

I think we just have to say no.

But I don't want her to poop on my bed.

But she won't.

I know, but I think…

But she won't.

It's her routine.

Yeah, I think it is. I think you're right. I think at this point she's so used to me taking her at that time. She's like, “I go potty in the middle of the night.”
“Dad, we need to get up. We're going potty. This is our thing.”

Anyways, that's it. Rambling a little bit. Let's get into today's case.

Our sources for this episode are NBC San Diego, sandiego.gov, cbs8.com, timesofsandiego.com, New York Post, 10news.com, people.com, oxygen.com, usainquirer.net, eonline.com, rollingstone.com, variety.com, and TikTok Star Murders.

Oh. Okay.

That makes a little sense, because nowadays anyone can become a celebrity without ever stepping foot out of their front door. With things like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, even OnlyFans, all you really need is a cellphone to get your face in front of thousands, if not millions, of people.

But when fame is that accessible and that achievable to just about anyone, the smallest taste can be like a drug. Every single like can create a serotonin boost. Every positive comment is a hit that leaves you wanting more. And if this attention starts to fade away, it can be like an addict coming down from a high.

And over time, it can turn people into someone we no longer recognize, including a cold-blooded killer.

Oh. Okay.

And so today, I want you guys to meet Ana Marie Abulaban.

Hello.

Babe.

Sorry. Had to.

Now, Ana spent her early years growing up in the Philippines in the mid-90s. But with her father in the military, they eventually moved to Okinawa, Japan, and lived on the base there.

And that's where Ana made a lot of lifelong friends—other kids who were living on the base in this subtropical part of the country. They made memories on the beaches there together.

Friends of Ana said that in her early years she was like most teenagers. She was a little nerdy. She was finding herself. She loved video games. She was maybe a little insecure, socially awkward.

But Ana was one of the most caring, compassionate people they had ever met. And she was a loyal friend through and through.

Those friends helped her find her confidence over the years as she blossomed into a beautiful, empowered young woman.

And then she met Ali Abulaban.

It was 2014 when 21-year-old Ana laid eyes on 22-year-old Ali for the first time. He was a U.S. soldier in the military from Virginia, but also stationed on the base in Japan where she lived.

And while she was quiet and more reserved, Ali was always the center of attention. He had a huge personality. He was the singer in a band. And right away, they gravitated toward each other in an opposites-attract sort of way.

Ali came from a Middle Eastern Muslim family, so they were a lot more religious than Ana’s family. But Ali himself didn't consider religion a big part of his outside-life personality.

Okay.

In fact, he almost seemed to butt heads with his family quite a bit when it came to traditionalism. He was always sort of the black sheep of the family—the loud, boisterous one who was making home videos, doing different skits and dances and characters for the camera.

It was clear to everyone who knew Ali that he wanted to make something of himself one day. Honestly, he kind of wanted to be a star, which may be why he found that college wasn’t for him.

He dropped out early and joined the Air Force when he was around 19 years old. Ali told people he really wanted to better himself, both mentally and physically, and he felt the Air Force was the way to do that.

So he was stationed in Japan for what was supposed to be about two to three years of service, but things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Not long after Ali and Ana started dating, they were out at a bar with a few other people. That night, a drunk Ali got into a fight with one of Ana’s friends and actually assaulted them. Some thought it was because Ali was jealous that this person had made a pass at his new girlfriend. Really, it was just one of the earliest red flags.

I’m not sure exactly what happened during this fight, but I do know it got back to Ali’s superiors on base, and it got him discharged from the military.

Which meant Ali was now headed back to America.

But he and Ana weren’t quite ready to call it quits, because just a few weeks after Ali returned to live with his family in Bristow, Virginia, in 2015, Ana learned she was pregnant.

By this point, Ana’s family had moved back to the Philippines. After Ali went back to America, Ana moved back in with her parents in her home country to figure out her next steps. So they both left Japan and returned home to their families.

But Ana is pregnant.

Okay.

Now it seemed like the universe was making decisions for them. Both Ana and Ali were excited but nervous, though they saw this as a sign that they were definitely meant to be together.

Ali helped Ana apply for a visa so she could move to the United States and they could be together as a family. Of course, this did take some time, and eventually Ana gave birth to the couple’s little girl back in the Philippines. They named her Amira.

When Amira was about nine months old, Ali and Ana received some good news. Ana was approved to move to the States with their young daughter, and by the end of 2016, Ana and Amira were in Bristow, Virginia, living with Ali and his family all under the same roof.

In January of 2017, they decided to make their relationship more official. They didn’t have a huge, elaborate wedding. Instead, they just went down to the courthouse. But to Ali and Ana, only one thing was important at the time: starting their lives together as one happy family.

Around this same time, social media was seeing a massive shift. TikTok, formerly Musical.ly, had launched in 2016, and it was clear that anyone could become a celebrity from their own home using nothing but their phone, maybe a ring light.

I think this first started with Vine.

Yeah.

Where you were seeing average people blow up and get so many followers.

And for Ali, it was the perfect tool. As the kid who always wanted to entertain and be the center of attention, Ali saw TikTok as a way to gain exposure early on and get his face and antics in front of more people.

So he hopped on the app a lot earlier than the rest of us, and he navigated it pretty well. He began making little comedy videos imitating characters from video games, characters from movies like John Wick, and his iconic Al Pacino in Scarface.

Honestly, he was pretty good at it. He really committed to the bit and was incredible at doing impressions, and little by little he gained a following on the app under the handle JinnKid.

On TikTok?

Yes.

Okay.

So a jinn in Japanese is like an entity or ghost, if I’m understanding right. Ali thought it was a catchy word to attach “kid” to, and since he had served in Japan, that’s how he came up with the name.

And from there, it was off to the races.

Okay.

The more views, likes, and followers he got, the more Ali lost himself in JinnKid. He became obsessed with his platform. He began including Ana in a lot of his videos, and it almost seemed like something they really enjoyed doing together.

In a lot of those early TikToks, they’re seen together laughing, joking around, having a lot of fun. Ana would even play characters in some of his skits. She said it brought them closer than ever before.

Social media is such a wild place.

It’s crazy. Unlike anything else out there.

Right? Especially those early days.

Yeah. I mean, even now though…

Right.

…it’s just such an escape. You don’t know what’s real, what’s not real. You don’t know how people really are behind closed doors. It’s just such an interesting place.

And think, like 2017, 2018, couples doing skits was not as big as it became in 2021.

Yeah, sure. Uh-huh.

So they were definitely early on that.

Yeah.

She says it really brought them closer together, and it actually brought even more attention to Ali’s page by having Ana in those videos. They essentially became a couple page.

Then around 2019 into 2020, probably like for any other TikToker, things really started picking up steam. Ali got himself a manager to help promote his content. He started getting some small brand deals and becoming an influencer. His videos were going viral by this point.

One day, one of Ana’s old friends was fed JinnKid’s content on her feed and was shocked to see Ana in a video alongside him. That’s when a lot of people started to realize they were becoming TikTok-famous.

By 2020, keep in mind this is when most of us were getting on the app, Ali had amassed two million followers.

Yeah.

And Ana’s fame was starting to grow separately on her own account.

When the pandemic hit, Ana, bored and stuck at home, began making her own videos with her friends. Partially thanks to Ali, her following grew bigger and bigger too.

Soon, her style changed. She began dressing differently. She began working out more. She was getting brand deals. She was finding her confidence. But it wasn’t really what made her happy.

Her family, daughter, and friends were what mattered most to her. And unlike Ali, TikTok felt more like a hobby than a passion.

While she was definitely getting more attention online, she felt lonelier and lonelier at home as they began blowing up.

I wonder… God, 2020 was such an awkward time because they probably weren’t making their money full-time from brands yet. It was still pretty new.

Yeah.

You know what I’m saying? I mean, Hype House probably hadn’t even started yet.

Yeah, so it’s like, I don’t know if brands were really paying what they pay now.

I don’t know. No idea. I’ve never done a TikTok ad, so wrong person to ask. But it was definitely right around the corner.

Yes.

It was definitely about to get big.

She was feeling lonelier at home, though, because even though they should have been on a high with the way their life was changing, Ali was dedicating more and more of his personal time to his own social media presence.

Her friends said she felt like she was living Ali’s life, not her own—like her whole life had become this TikTok thing. He had his family in Virginia, but her family and friends were so far away back in the Philippines.

That’s when one of her friends, Julia, who was living in San Diego at the time, suggested, “Hey, leave Virginia and come out to California and visit.” She figured a vacation and a break from being a mom and a wife, just for a weekend, might do her some good.

That trip really changed everything for Ana and Ali.

After having to convince Ali to let her go, Ana visited San Diego and fell in love with the city. She sort of got a piece of herself back and felt a little bit independent. She and her friends were getting dressed up, going out dancing, and being back with friends—many of whom she had grown up with in Japan—made her realize how much she missed having her own circle around her.

Interesting. I mean, yeah. That’d be tough. That’d be tough.

And if you’re not someone who… Well, also, she’s just a mom. She has an entire life. It’s not as easy as just being a young adult on your own, going somewhere new and trying to make friends.

So when she got back to Virginia, she pitched something to Ali. She said, “Hey, why don’t we move to California for a little while? Try it out.”

It definitely took some convincing, but with LA being just a few hours from San Diego, Ali saw the benefit for his career. Ultimately, he wanted his fame to grow beyond TikTok. He wanted to become an actor, a comedian, get on a bigger screen, so he eventually agreed.

In February of 2021, Ali, Ana, and their baby Amira moved out to California.

Okay.

They got a place in a luxury apartment building overlooking the water, high above the city.

So they’re making money at this point, it sounds like.

I mean, they have millions of followers.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

At first, Ana was really grateful that Ali agreed to move—so much so that she felt she had to do whatever it took to make him comfortable there. He didn’t have anyone.

She encouraged Ali to go up to LA for several nights in a row, meet up with other creators, and maybe even try out some stand-up comedy in a few nightclubs.

This is so interesting. I wonder if I’ve seen him on TikTok.

I bet you probably have.

I wonder if I’ve seen his face, if I would recognize it, because the name does not ring any bells.

Ana was definitely supportive in letting him chase his dreams in California too. But when people started recognizing Ali out in public and the fame began to seep into real life, people say it brought out the worst in him.

It turns out a lot of Ana’s friends said they never really liked Ali. They found him intolerable and obnoxious. He talked about himself constantly, would say uncomfortable things, and always thought he was better than everyone else—even before the fame.

He would walk into rooms and say things like, “Don’t you know who I am?”

At this point, the partying was getting really out of control.

Okay, that’s kind of wild.

Both Ana and Ali would go out often, and Ali began using a lot of cocaine. Soon, it extended to nights when they weren’t even out at clubs.

They would be dining at a restaurant—

Don’t.

—and Ali would pull out a baggie at the table.

A baggie? Don’t do drugs, kids.

People felt like he believed he was allowed to do whatever he wanted with no repercussions. Eventually, he even started using drugs during his live streams.

Ana would tell him to stop—

What the—

—and put the phone down in those moments.

I don’t think you can do that.

No, you can’t.

Yeah, it’s crazy.

But this is… I mean, what, 2021?

Yeah.

And TikTok—

It’s not as regulated yet, yeah.

And on live, the audience begins to see this behavior too, because he’s now sneaking drugs during a live, and Ana’s in the back saying, “Don’t do that.”

And he would full-blown yell at her.

In, like, on live?

Holy crap.

Just snap at her.

I need to look videos up after this.

Dad.

Oh, so you’re going?

I’m not going.

Luke’s gonna be there!

I told you we’re going to a hotel.

This is the after-party and you’re going!

No, it’s not there. Why do you think I can bring a kid?

Yeah?

Nobody’s there but girls, you stupid—

Obviously, the couple would caption their videos with things like, “When your relationship is drama-free,” like other relationship videos out there.

That’s what I’m saying though, you just—

We all know social media’s not real life.

Never believe anything you see on social media.

And it’s always interesting with couple creators to see… They’re posting these cute couple videos, and then the next day they post a video saying, “We’re breaking up. Bye.”

I know.

And people get so confused.

Because they’re like, “Whoa, you were still posting those skits.”

You know? It’s a job.

I understand it now. It’s a job.

They’re doing it because they have brand deals, trying to make money. Yada, yada, yada.

For sure.

Yeah.

But that’s the thing—it’s a job.

Yeah.

And honestly, the more perfect someone portrays themselves to be online, chances are the less perfect it might all be. We overcompensate a little bit as humans.

And that was certainly the case with Ana and Ali.

Ana’s friends said from the moment they moved to San Diego, they could tell how controlling Ali was.

She had to ask his permission to go out.

Oh, geez. Give me a break.

And oftentimes, he told her no.

He wanted to control what she was doing. He controlled what she was wearing, who she was spending her time with. And a lot of that had to do with the fact that Ana was happy in San Diego—finally.

Ah.

She had her own community there. She was coming out of her shell, gaining her own following, getting attention and positive reinforcement from strangers—

Both online and in the real world.

It sounds like he was jealous.

Yeah.

He was threatened by it.

So he started saying things to exercise that control. Things like, “Well, I’m the one that brought you to America. You wouldn’t have any of this.”

Oh… that’s insane.

“I’m the one who brought you here. I’m the one who started Musical.ly.”

That’s wild.

Basically treating her like property, honestly, rather than as a partner who was on this journey with him.

Ana and Ali did a good job of hiding these marital issues for a while. Friends of Ana’s knew Ali wasn’t a good match for her, but he was her husband. They had a kid together. They didn’t feel it was their place to step in, because she wasn’t being fully open about what was going on.

That is, until spring of 2021, just a few months after they moved to San Diego.

Because the couple was now closer to Ana’s friends, they finally got a peek into what was really going on behind closed doors—and it was not good.

One afternoon around that time, Ana and her friend Julia went to the gym and then back to Ana’s apartment to pick up Amira. Julia said Ali was there, and when they showed up, he was incredibly mad at Ana about something.

He pulled her into the bedroom to talk because Julia was there, but Julia could hear them fighting. She could tell it was escalating. He began throwing things. He was screaming obscenities.

Then suddenly, Ana came bursting out of the room, grabbed Amira, and rushed Julia out of the apartment.

It seems like—

What?

Ana actually stayed at Julia’s house that night with her daughter, because Julia said Ali was texting Ana nonstop for the next 24 hours, demanding that she bring their daughter home.

That’s when the concern really started to set in for Julia. Having witnessed it firsthand, she wondered if this was a regular occurrence—this level of fighting, taking the child and leaving.

But Ana played it off, saying, “No, we’ll talk it out later. It was just a bad fight. Everything’s gonna be fine.” Which is even more of a red flag, because clearly it’s not.

It soon became clear—not just to Ana’s friends, but to their followers as well—that this was becoming the norm between Ana and Ali. Over time, it wasn’t just happening on live streams. Ali started recording their fights as well.

No way. And posting them?

Posting them for sympathy. He’d say things like, “Oh, this is a toxic relationship. Look at what I have to put up with,” literally playing the victim.

That’s insane. That’s wild.

Talk to me. Respond to my texts.
I gave you seven texts. You’re not responding.
You’re not answering my calls.
You said you’re not going out tonight.
You lie to me all the time.

He’s clearly unwell because he’s posting these trying to be the victim, but in the videos he’s saying things like, “You’re my woman, b-word. I brought you to this effing country. You should be kissing my feet.”

What the freak is happening?

And I know this sounds outrageous, but there are still creators on TikTok today with massive followings who are famous for exploitative content.

The things they’re famous for?

There are people with huge followings because their house is messy, or—

I see what you’re saying.

It’s not just influencer content.

Yeah, but this is teeter-tottering. This is domestic violence at this point.

Domestic abuse.

Oh, 100 percent.

Yeah. One hundred percent.

But it’s just so weird how TikTok works. People gain massive followings for negative reasons.

I mean, there are TV shows like Hoarders.

It’s the same thing.

Yeah, that’s true.

Ali kept recording and posting these fights. He would also yell at her for not having sex with him, saying it had been almost a month. He accused her of seeing someone else, saying there was no way she could go that long without having sex with him.

This was really personal stuff he was blasting out to followers.

“The reason she’s not having sex with you is because you guys are fighting, dude.”

It’s wildly disturbing, but it’s also a textbook example of signs of a domestically abusive relationship: control, gaslighting, threats.

And in Ana’s case, she felt like Ali had real power over her. She didn’t want to lose her visa.

Yeah, I get that.

She didn’t want to be sent back to the Philippines. That could mean losing her daughter, too. It was an incredibly intense situation.

In one of these videos, Ana even calls Ali’s mother to try and have her mediate between the two of them, and she’s no help at all. She says to Ana, “Well, why do you keep getting back with him? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to try to put him in jail?”

Meanwhile, Ana is just trying to get him out of the house for a while and is hoping to find some sympathy and support.

What a great mother-in-law, by the way.

I think there was also a section of people who thought this was performative—like skits meant to gain views. Similar to those couples who post videos like, “Finding out my husband is cheating on me.”

But this was every single video, in a different way.

Yeah.

So I’m sure there were people who thought, “Oh, this is just clickbait.”

But over time, the threats changed. Around July of 2021, Ali started threatening suicide. He told Ana he would take his own life if she left him.

Ana also knew the home was no longer safe for her daughter. Ali had a gun in the house. At one point, he even took it out of its case and pointed it at himself during a fight while Amira was sleeping on the couch.

Dude, what is happening?

Every time Ana took her daughter and left, Ali would love-bomb her—begging her to come back, trying to win her over.

Textbook behavior. Terrifying.

In this case, it was exacerbated by his obsession with fame and his cocaine addiction. He was putting these fights on social media, and people were supporting him. People began making nasty comments about Ana, feeding into the behavior.

How have I never seen this?

It’s just a niche corner.

Niche corner? Millions of followers? Niche corner?

Yeah.

That’s a lot.

Yes, but—

I had to have seen one of these and just not realized. This is crazy.

In Ali’s mind, this must have reassured his beliefs. Like, “See? I’m the victim. My audience agrees with me.”

You can see how someone like Ana might feel trapped in a situation like this and unable to see a way out. Usually, the abuser is holding something over their victim’s head.

In this case, it was her daughter.

It’s also possible she didn’t feel like anyone could truly help her. Ana called the police to their apartment several times, and Ali recorded those interactions too.

In one video, you can hear him sweet-talking the cops and laying on the charm, telling them that his wife just wanted him out of the house so she could have it to herself. He even said, “It’s a woman’s world, man.”

One morning, Ana called Ali’s cousin Louie, who also lived in San Diego, and asked him to come pick her and Amira up. He brought them to Julia’s house, where they noticed the entire left side of her face was bruised.

After that, Ana began texting Ali pictures of her injuries, threatening to post them online.

Expose who he really was, saying, “I’m gonna show the followers what you’ve done to me.”

But that’s when Ali snapped.

The last thing he wanted was to look like the villain—especially to his online following. Losing that fame would mean losing everything to Ali, and he was not going to let that happen.

And while things escalated from there, the violence wasn’t new in this relationship.

While Ali and his mother denied it, there were reports that Ali had punched Ana in the face back when they first started dating in Japan.

What’s up with Ali’s mom? I don’t even care if she’s listening to this. That shit is messed up. Supporting domestic abuse and violence is crazy to me. It’s just not okay.

That incident may have also played a role in why he was discharged from the military.

But around the fall of 2021, Ali did something that finally made Ana say, “Okay, enough is enough.”

After months—maybe even years—of falsely accusing Ana of cheating, a neighbor in their building reached out to her and said, “Hey, just so you know, I slept with your husband.”

She explained that they met in the elevator. She was a neighbor. He invited her over. They were messing around, and then she learned he had a wife.

The woman also said that Ali poured out a huge bag of cocaine on their coffee table and that they were doing massive amounts while talking horribly about Ana.

That’s when the other woman realized, “Okay, this guy is trouble,” and decided to tell Ana.

So Ana confronted Ali, and he admitted it. He even doubled down. He started sending her voice notes saying that he slept with girls in Los Angeles and Miami.

What is happening?

He told her he was finding attention elsewhere because she didn’t give it to him, because she disrespected him, because she had been depriving him of sex.

Just awful things.

That’s when Ana realized, “I’m done.”

She packed up her belongings, took Amira, and the two moved out of the apartment, leaving Ali there alone.

On October 6th, 2021, Ana decided to update her followers. She posted a video explaining that she was finally out of a seven-year toxic relationship and an abusive marriage.

This hit a nerve with Ali.

Again, he believed TikTok was his domain. Now he was afraid his reputation was on the line, afraid his followers might side with her.

What made him even angrier was his belief that Ana had her eye on someone else—someone she had been friends with for a while who might be becoming more than just a friend.

I’m so confused. After he slept with multiple women?

That’s just toxic.

Yeah.

That person was Rayburn Barron.

Rayburn was 29 years old. He was someone who always put his friends and family before himself, and that included Ana—especially during one of the most difficult periods of her life.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information out there about Rayburn, and he often gets lost in Ana and Ali’s story. But one thing is clear: he was a bright light for Ana. Someone who made her feel worthy of real love. Someone who gave her courage and helped her see a future beyond Ali.

There’s debate about whether anything romantic was going on between them. Some friends say they were just friends. Others believe there was more, or that they were getting very close by that October.

What mattered most was that Rayburn was helping Ana leave Ali for good—and Ali knew it.

He had always been jealous of Rayburn when he was around. Maybe he sensed something between them, but he made it clear he didn’t like him.

When Ali learned they were spending more time together after the separation, things escalated even further.

Ana was still receiving daily—sometimes hourly—threats from Ali. But she was focused on the future now and trying not to give him any more power. She felt lighter. Happier.

Still, some of her friends were worried about what Ali might do. They knew he was manipulative, dangerous, and that he had a gun.

But Ana reassured them, saying, “Listen, he’s not going to do anything to, like, critically hurt me.”

Unfortunately, Ali was already planning his next move.

In mid-October, he told Ana he would stay in a hotel so she and Amira could move back into the apartment.

Ana thought, “Okay, maybe this is an olive branch.”

But to Ali, it was an opportunity.

They moved her belongings in and his belongings out. But without her knowledge, Ali made a copy of the new electronic key cards.

On October 21st, 2021, he did something that would change the course of many lives forever.

That morning, Ana was back in the apartment with Amira and took her five-year-old daughter to school.

While she was gone, Ali returned to the apartment—not to grab forgotten belongings.

He trashed the entire place.

He also installed a listening app on Amira’s iPad and hid the device underneath the couch.

Around 11:00 a.m., Ana returned home. Ali was gone, but the apartment was destroyed. Broken glass, items scattered everywhere.

Most likely, the mess was meant to distract from the hidden iPad.

Ana called Julia and said, “Hey, I need your help. This is going to take me all day to clean. There’s stuff everywhere.”

She asked if Julia could pick Amira up from school later.

Julia agreed but told her, “Ana, you need to get out of there.”

Ana said she knew and planned to go straight to the police station after cleaning to file for a restraining order.

After hanging up with Julia, Ana called Rayburn and asked, “Hey, can you come help me clean up this mess?”

He agreed.

But Ali was listening.

Through the hidden iPad, he heard Rayburn’s voice inside the apartment.

Everything.

Ali lost his mind.

Around 2:50 p.m., he got into his car and drove back to the apartment complex. He parked, got into the elevator, and—

Dude, what an absolute loser.

Oh, it’s about to get worse.

He turned on the camera on his phone and started recording what was about to happen.

In the video—which later became evidence—you can see him making small talk with someone in the elevator on the way up to the 35th floor, acting like nothing was wrong.

He steps off the elevator. The video switches to audio only because he isn’t holding the phone up.

You hear the apartment door open. Then you hear Rayburn’s voice say, “Whoa,” followed by four gunshots.

Holy crap.

Ana is yelling as you hear Ali reload the gun and fire two more times.

Oh my gosh.

He then shot her, taking both of their lives.

After that, he leaves the apartment, paces the hallway, then goes back inside. That’s when he starts screaming Ana’s name over and over, acting like he just realized what he’d done.

I don’t even care what—scum of the earth. Just low, low, low. Insane. Insane.

And then what does he do?

I don’t know. Oh, kills himself?

No.

Calls his mom.

Tell me what the mom said. What did the mom say?

He says, “Hey, I just shot my wife and her friend,” and his mom doesn’t believe him. So he takes pictures of the crime scene and texts them to her as proof.

Okay. All right.

A short while later, Julia is on her way to the school to pick up Amira. And let’s not forget—there is a full-blown child at school in all of this.

As Julia is pulling up, she sees Ali getting into his car with Amira.

This terrifies Julia, because she knows the situation. Ana does not want him picking her up. There’s no confusion there.

So Julia starts following Ali and calling Ana repeatedly, trying to say, “Hey, he just picked her up.”

Oh, it’s so sad.

Of course, Ana isn’t answering.

Eventually, Ali makes a turn and Julia loses him, but thankfully the police are already on his trail.

Oh, thank goodness.

A neighbor had heard the gunshots and immediately called 911. Police already knew Ali. They had seen him in the hallway, so they knew exactly who had done it.

An APB is quickly put out for Ali and his black Jeep Wrangler, and thankfully they locate him on the highway without much incident—because Amira is still in the car.

This is horrible.

Ali had even told Amira earlier that day that he had hurt her mommy. This is what she later tells police.

She also watched her father get arrested that same day.

Poor girl.

He didn’t just ruin other people’s lives—he caused unimaginable trauma to his daughter. She lost her mother and her father in the same day.

Yeah. So sad.

Meanwhile, word starts spreading among Ana’s friends that something is wrong. Julia knows something terrible has happened, and it’s what they’ve all been fearing.

Five hours after being taken into custody, Ali confesses to the murders.

He’s charged with two counts of first-degree murder, along with several other charges.

While awaiting trial, Ali gives an interview. Not only does he show very little remorse, but he continues referring to everything as his.

Okay.

He accuses Rayburn of kissing his wife in his house, on his couch.

Like—no.

Still.

At the end of the interview, he breaks down—not because he lost his wife or destroyed his daughter’s life—but because he lost his online platform.

He refers to it as losing his baby. Not Amira. His fame. His followers.

Yeah. Just narcissism. Straight victimhood. It’s disgusting.

Now, the trial hinged on whether this was first- or second-degree murder—premeditated or spur-of-the-moment.

I’m not even entertaining the defense’s argument. You’ve heard the story. This violence wasn’t a one-time thing.

Beyond everything he did to Ana and their daughter, investigators also found disturbing searches on his computer and phone—searches related to trash cans, chopped-up bodies, and exploitation of minors.

Holy crap.

He had been deeply unwell for a long time, and the jury saw that clearly.

On May 29th, 2024, Ali was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.

Good.

Ali—also known as JinnKid—will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 2024, a documentary titled TikTok Star Murders was released on Peacock, telling Ana’s story through the voices of her closest friends. Some of them said they had drifted apart after her death, each grieving separately, but the documentary brought them back together.

A GoFundMe was created for Ana’s family. Her body was returned to the Philippines, where she was laid to rest in her hometown. Her family welcomes happy memories, kind words, and stories shared in her honor.

And if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please know there is help. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, visit thehotline.org, or text BEGIN to 88788.

That is the murder of Ana and Rayburn.

Domestic violence is terrifying. It escalates quickly, and far too often it ends exactly like this.

Yeah. It’s not as far away as people think.

Domestic violence is incredibly common, and it’s incredibly dangerous.

All right, you guys. That’s our episode for this week. Please take a moment to remember Ana, her family, and her daughter. If you’re able, her family has said they appreciate any kind words or memories.

We’ll see you next time with another episode.

I love it.

And I hate it.

Goodbye.

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