Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Wife Die In Murder-Suicide

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife and then killed himself, authorities announced Thursday.

Fairfax County police chief Kevin Davis said Justin Fairfax shot Dr. Cerina W. Fairfax, who was in the couple’s basement, several times before running to the home’s primary bedroom upstairs and killing himself with the same firearm.

Davis said the couple’s two teenage children were in the home at the time of the murder-suicide, which took place just after midnight. Their son is the one who called 911, and both children, one boy and one girl, “are interacting with us,” Davis said.

“That’s horrible news for the family, certainly a traumatic event for those children to live through,” he said at a press conference Thursday morning.

The couple had been going through divorce proceedings. Davis said Justin Fairfax, a Democrat, “was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night.”

The Associated Press reported Thursday that Justin Fairfax had a court-ordered deadline to move out of their home in two weeks.

Cerina Fairfax testified in the divorce proceedings in recent weeks, indicating that Justin had begun engaging in “heavy daily alcohol use” in 2022, after his term ended, The Washington Post reported.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. McEvoy had granted Cerina Fairfax primary custody of their two children and ownership of their house, The Washington Post reported. Justin Fairfax would have been allowed parenting time twice a week, with the possibility of an increase, and required to pass breathalyzer tests before and during interactions with the children.

“Together, these facts paint a vivid picture of Father as a talented man who struggles with undefined emotional and psychological issues,” the judge wrote in a March 30 opinion. “Yet there can be no mistake that these undefined issues are in fact defining him and limiting his ability to be the person he is capable of being, including but not limited to the role of a dad.”

Cerina Fairfax filed for divorce last year. In January, a judge dismissed a divorce complaint, claiming she did not outline her plans to permanently separate from her husband.

Davis said Justin Fairfax called police in January and said his wife had assaulted him, but the claim was determined to be untrue thanks to security footage from the home.

“We responded to that scene. There are several cameras set up inside the house. Apparently, Mrs. Fairfax, at some point during these divorce proceedings, set up a lot of cameras inside the home,” Davis said. “We reviewed those cameras, and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred. So there was no arrest made.”

The two were married in 2006. Cerina Fairfax was a dentist with a practice based in Fairfax, Virginia. They met at Duke University, according to a Facebook post the former lieutenant governor shared in honor of the couple’s anniversary.

Justin Fairfax served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022, after losing the 2021 Democratic primary for governor to Terry McAuliffe, who went on to lose the general election to Republican Glenn Youngkin.

At one point, Justin Fairfax seemed poised to take Virginia’s top job, as then-Gov. Ralph Northam weathered a scandal over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. (Northam didn’t end up resigning.)

During his tenure as lieutenant governor, Justin Fairfax was accused by two women of sexual assault, which he denied, claiming he’d had consensual sex with them.

At the time, Justin Fairfax asked the FBI to investigate the women’s claims.

Taiyler S. Mitchell contributed reporting.

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.