Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife, Cerina Fairfax, before turning the gun on himself in their Annandale home early Thursday, authorities said. The incident occurred Wednesday night with their two teenage children present; their 16-year-old son called 911. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described it as a tragic 'fall from grace' tied to the couple's contentious divorce.
Fairfax County Police responded to the family's Annandale, Virginia, home shortly after midnight Thursday after 16-year-old son Cameron Fairfax called 911, reporting that his father might have stabbed his mother, who was bleeding with holes in her shirt. Officers found Cerina Fairfax without a pulse downstairs; upstairs, Justin Fairfax, 47, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, a firearm nearby. Investigators believe Fairfax shot his wife in the basement before running upstairs to the main bedroom with the same gun. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The couple's two teenage children were home; one officer stayed with the son while others cleared the house.
Police Chief Kevin Davis said the children were interacting with authorities, calling the son 'very brave' for calling 911 amid chaos, and prioritized their well-being. The tragedy stemmed from a 'complicated or messy divorce'; the couple was separated but shared the home, living in separate bedrooms, with court documents noting Fairfax isolating amid empty wine bottles, trash, and dirty laundry. Cerina Fairfax, a dentist, had installed home cameras during proceedings.
This followed a January 2026 police call when Fairfax alleged his wife assaulted him, but camera footage showed it 'never occurred,' Davis said—no arrests were made. Fairfax served as Virginia's lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, lost the 2021 Democratic primary for governor, and had returned to private law practice. He faced sexual assault allegations from 2019 (amid Gov. Ralph Northam's blackface scandal) and earlier claims from 2000 and 2004, which he denied. Davis called Fairfax a former 'rising star politically' whose prominent family had 'a lot of things going in their favor.'