Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, were found dead inside their Annandale, Virginia, home early Thursday in what appears to be a murder-suicide.
Authorities said Justin Fairfax, 46, shot his wife multiple times before shooting himself. The couple’s two teenage children were inside the home at the time. Police responded shortly after midnight after the couple’s son called 911 and said he believed his mother had been stabbed. When officers arrived, they discovered both Justin and Cerina dead inside the residence.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said investigators believe the shooting stemmed from ongoing problems in the couple’s marriage.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said during a Thursday press conference.
According to police, the couple had been separated but were still living in the same home. Investigators said there were bullet casings near Cerina Fairfax’s body and no signs of a lengthy struggle.
“I think it all kind of happened at once,” Davis said. “There wasn’t a pause. It all happened pretty spontaneously.”
Davis called the case “tragic,” especially because the couple’s children were inside the home.
“Tragic for the children to lose both parents,” he said. “Extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred.”
Justin Fairfax served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 and later ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2021.
