Former Virginia lieutenant governor and wife found dead in apparent murder-suicide, police say

ANNANDALE, Va. (TCN) -- Justin Fairfax, who served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, killed his wife and himself in their home in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police.

The bodies of Fairfax, 47, and Dr. Cerina Fairfax, 49, were found April 16 by police after a receiving a 911 call from one of their children, The Associated Press reports.

According to CNN, investigators believe Fairfax shot his wife in the basement several times and then turned the gun on himself in the primary bedroom. The couple was going through a divorce and living in different bedrooms while separated. Both of their children were home during the incident, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis.

Police say they had responded to the Fairfax home in the past for a reported domestic incident, according to USA Today. Fairfax had called the police to say his wife had assaulted him, but after reviewing security footage from inside the home, police found that the incident did not occur. CNN reports that “a lot of cameras” were inside the home as part of the couple’s divorce proceedings. 

Davis called the apparent murder-suicide part of an “ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” per USA Today. The New York Post reports Davis went on to say, “From what I understand in this early stage, former Lieutenant Governor Fairfax was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night.”

Virginia law requires that a couple must be separated for a year before filing for divorce, according to the New York Post. The couple had separated in 2024, and Cerina Fairfax reportedly served divorce papers one year and one day later.

Fairfax, a lawyer, served as lieutenant governor under Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022. During his time in office, Fairfax spoke out about gun violence. CNN reports Fairfax called it a “national health crisis emergency.” 

In 2019, two women accused of Fairfax of sexually assaulting them in the past. He denied the allegations, and USA Today reports that no charges were ever filed. After serving as the lieutenant governor, he ran his own Virginia gubernatorial campaign in 2021, per CNN.  

Cerina Fairfax was a dentist, according to CNN. Per the New York Post, she and Fairfax met while they were students at Duke University and got married in 2006.
 
CNN reports the children are in the care of family members.

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