Justin Fairfax, who served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018-2022, shot and killed his wife Cerina Fairfax inside their home on Thursday, then killed himself, police say.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told press on Thursday morning.
Justin shot Cerina “several times” in the home’s basement, before running upstairs to a bedroom where he shot himself, police said.
Their two teenage children were home at the time. Their high-school-age son, Cameron, called 911 shortly after midnight, according to police reports. It is unclear whether Justin Fairfax had taken his own life by the time of the phone call.
“There wasn’t a pause, there was never a moment where someone was holed up in a room. It all happened pretty spontaneously,” Davis said.
The couple had been married for 19 years.
“We know that recently Mr. Fairfax was served some type of paperwork indicating when he was next scheduled to next appear in court for the ongoing divorce proceedings,” Davis said. “That is something that we’re looking at as something that may have led to whatever happened last night that led to the murder of a mother and wife and a suicide.”
Several months earlier in January, police were called to the home when Fairfax claimed his wife assaulted him. Police reviewed footage from cameras in the home that Cerina Fairfax had installed and found no evidence.
In the 2010s, Fairfax’s political career gained momentum, having previously aided Al Gore and John Kerry with their respective presidential campaigns.
Fairfax worked as a federal prosecutor, then ran unsuccessfully for Virginia’s attorney general in 2013. He was elected lieutenant governor under Ralph Northam.
In 2019, two women accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting them in the early 2000s, derailing his future ambitions for public office.
“I do know that the family was going through, seemingly, a very tough time with the separation, with the divorce, etc.,” Davis said. “I can only imagine the stress that the parents felt, the kids felt and the other family members as well.”
Cerina Fairfax initiated divorce papers in July 2025.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner responded to the news Thursday morning. “I’m keeping Cerina and Justin Fairfax’s children in my prayers as we all process this shocking and horrifying news. To any Virginian impacted by domestic violence, help is available at 1-800-799-7233,” he wrote.
Columnist Sophia Nelson described Fairfax as a close friend on X on Thursday. She said she spoke to him often and “never saw this coming.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or chatting online at 988lifeline.org.