Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax killed his wife and himself in a murder-suicide inside their home, police in Fairfax County, Va., said on Thursday.
According to authorities, officers responded to the couple’s home in Annandale, Va., shortly after midnight and discovered Fairfax and his wife, Dr. Cerina W. Fairfax, dead inside the residence in what police described as a “domestic-related incident.”
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters early Thursday.
Justin Fairfax was recently served paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to the deadly incident, Davis said. The couple, who married in 2006, were separated but living together, he said.
In January, officers responded to the home after the former lieutenant governor called police, alleging he had been assaulted by his wife, Davis said. Police reviewed camera footage from inside the residence and determined no assault had occurred, the chief said.
Davis said that authorities believe the murder occurred in the basement of the home, where Justin Fairfax shot his wife multiple times, then ran upstairs to the primary bedroom, where he fatally shot himself using the same firearm.
The couple’s two children — a teenage boy and girl — were inside the house when it happened, according to police. Their son called 911.
Then Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax gestures during a debate at Virginia Sate University in Petersburg, Va., in 2021.
(Steve Helber/AP)
Fairfax, a Democrat, served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 until 2022 under former Gov. Ralph Northam.
In a statement to the Washington Post, Northam said he and his wife were “devastated by this heartbreaking news.”
“I had the privilege of getting to know the Fairfaxes while our families served together,” Northam said.
Justin Fairfax ran for governor in 2021.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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