Justin Fairfax, former Virginia lieutenant governor, kills wife and himself
TL;DR
Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, killed his wife Cerina and then himself during a domestic dispute. The incident occurred at their home in Annandale, Virginia, following a complicated divorce situation.
Key points
- Justin Fairfax shot his wife and then himself.
- The incident was related to a domestic dispute and divorce.
- Fairfax served as Virginia's lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022.
Mentioned in this story
Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia whose tenure was upended by allegations of sexual assault, shot and killed his wife Cerina Fairfax on Thursday before killing himself, police said.
Kevin Davis, the chief of the Fairfax county police department in Virginia, said at a press conference that the murder-suicide took place in the context of “an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or or messy divorce”. The shooting took place at the Fairfax’s residence in Annandale, Virginia, and police arrived on the scene after receiving a 911 call from one of their teenage children shortly after midnight.
“Former lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself,” Davis said.
A Democratic lieutenant governor who served from 2018 to 2022 under governor, Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, 47, was the second African American to hold statewide office in Virginia since reconstruction and considered a rising star in the state’s politics.
His career was upended in 2019, when two women accused him of sexual assault and he faced a barrage of calls to resign amid a wider misconduct scandal that engulfed Northam’s administration. In 2021, Fairfax sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination but finished in fourth place, with 3.54% of the vote.
Davis said that Cerina and Justin Fairfax were living together as they went through their divorce, and that the former lieutenant governor “was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night”.
Their two teenage children were in the house at the time of the killings, he added.
Police had been called to the residence once prior, in January of this year, when Justin Fairfax accused his wife of assault, Davis said. Officers determined no incident had occurred after reviewing footage from cameras Cerina Fairfax had set up inside the house.
“The allegation that Mr Fairfax made in January, that Mrs Fairfax assaulted him, was proven to be untrue,” Davis said.
Q&A
What led to Justin Fairfax's murder-suicide incident?
The murder-suicide was linked to an ongoing domestic dispute related to a complicated divorce.
What were the circumstances surrounding Justin Fairfax's political career?
Justin Fairfax's political career was marred by sexual assault allegations in 2019, which led to calls for his resignation.
Where did the murder-suicide of Justin Fairfax take place?
The incident occurred at the Fairfax residence in Annandale, Virginia.
