Justin Fairfax, who served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, inside their Annandale home before killing himself in the early hours of Thursday morning. Their teenage son called 911 shortly after midnight.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters at a morning news conference that Justin Fairfax shot his wife in the basement of the home, then moved to the primary bedroom upstairs, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both bodies were removed from the home on gurneys just before 10 a.m. and transported away in a white van. Police tape surrounded the property throughout the morning.
The couple’s teenage son and daughter, both high school students, were in the home when the shootings took place. Victim services are currently assisting both children.
A divorce that had grown increasingly volatile
Davis described the shootings as stemming from a domestic dispute tied to what he called a complicated and contentious divorce. Though the couple was still living under the same roof, they had been sleeping in separate bedrooms. Justin Fairfax had recently been served court paperwork outlining when he was next scheduled to appear for divorce proceedings.
Davis told reporters that the paperwork may have been a contributing factor, though detectives are continuing to investigate the full sequence of events that led to the tragedy. Police obtained a search warrant to recover evidence from the scene, including the firearm used.
Fairfax County court records obtained by NBC News show the divorce had been deeply adversarial. Cerina Fairfax was awarded custody of the couple’s children by a judge last month. The two were scheduled to return to court the following Monday for a three-day trial over the division of assets, and Justin Fairfax had been ordered to vacate the home by April 30.
Court filings described his daily alcohol use and characterized him as emotionally withdrawn, with documents noting a significant retreat from domestic life that included neglect of family finances and household responsibilities. Records also show he purchased a handgun in 2022 using money that had been set aside for his children’s horseback riding lessons, partly because he no longer had the personal security detail that came with his role as lieutenant governor.
In January, Justin Fairfax called police and alleged that his wife had assaulted him. Davis said officers who responded found that security cameras Cerina had installed at the home during the divorce process contradicted his account, and no charges were filed.
Justin Fairfax’s political rise and its unraveling
Fairfax, who was 47 at the time of his death, was once regarded as one of Virginia’s most promising political figures. He served as lieutenant governor under then-Governor Ralph Northam and had previously mounted a campaign for governor. Davis described him at the news conference as a rising star in Virginia politics.
His trajectory shifted sharply in 2019, when two women came forward with sexual assault accusations. Meredith Watson alleged that Fairfax raped her in 2000 while they were both students at Duke University. Vanessa Tyson accused him of forcing her to perform a sex act in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Fairfax denied both accusations, maintained that the encounters were consensual, and called for an FBI investigation into the claims. He did not resign.
Former Governor Northam responded to the news Today with a written statement expressing grief over the loss.
Davis addressed the weight of the moment directly at the news conference. He called it a fall from grace for a family that had appeared, from the outside, to have considerable promise ahead of them. He noted that the tragedy was compounded by the fact that the couple’s children were present when it occurred.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 800-273-8255. Additional resources are available at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org.
