Article Text
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife before killing himself inside their Annandale home early Thursday, April 16, Fairfax County police said.
Fairfax, 47, shot 49-year-old Cerina Wanzer Fairfax several times, moved to another part of the house and used the same gun to take his own life, Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a briefing shortly before 9 a.m.
Officers were called to the home in the 8100 block of Guinevere Drive around 12:15 a.m. after the couple’s son found Cerina Fairfax bleeding. Justin Fairfax was discovered about 10 minutes later in a different bedroom with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Their two teenage children were home during the shootings but were not injured.
Investigators recovered cartridge casings and a firearm. Final determinations on the cause and manner of both deaths will come after autopsies by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Divorce proceedings preceded the shootings
The couple married in 2006 and had been involved in divorce proceedings initiated in 2025. A hearing in a no-jury trial was scheduled for Tuesday, April 21.
Court records show that a judge ordered Justin Fairfax in March to leave the family home by the end of April. Police said he was still living there when the shootings occurred but occupied a bedroom separate from his wife.
Davis described the situation as an ongoing domestic dispute involving a complicated divorce.
Police had also responded to the house in January after Justin Fairfax accused his wife of assaulting him. Davis said investigators reviewed footage from cameras Cerina Fairfax had installed inside the home and found that it did not support the allegation. No arrest was made.
Fairfax’s political career
Justin Fairfax, who had most recently worked as a local attorney, served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Ralph Northam from 2018 through 2021.
He faced calls to resign in 2019 after two women accused him of sexual assault. Vanessa Tyson alleged that Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, when he was a Columbia Law School student and an aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards.
Meredith Watson later accused Fairfax of raping her in 2000, when both were students at Duke University. Fairfax denied both allegations.
He sought the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor in 2021 but lost in the primary and subsequently returned to private life.
Virginia leaders respond
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay offered condolences to everyone affected and highlighted resources for people facing domestic violence or mental health crises.
Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said they were keeping the couple’s family, particularly their two children, in their prayers. They also urged people affected by domestic violence to seek help from police or the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi called the deaths devastating and said her thoughts were with the couple’s children, relatives and friends.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger described Cerina Fairfax’s killing as a horrific tragedy. She remembered her as a devoted mother, a dentist known in the Fairfax County community and an active supporter of her alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Spanberger said the deaths underscored that domestic violence can occur in any family or community.
Fairfax County’s Domestic and Sexual Violence 24-Hour Hotline is available at 703-360-7273. People experiencing a mental health crisis can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.