The former lieutenant governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax, shot and killed his wife, Cerina Fairfax, early Thursday morning before taking his own life, according to Fairfax County Police. The incident occurred at their home on Guinevere Drive in Annandale, Virginia.
Police responded to the residence shortly after midnight Thursday following a 911 call placed by the couple’s teenage son. Upon arrival, officers found Cerina Fairfax, 49, dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the home’s unfinished basement. Justin Fairfax, 47, was discovered elsewhere in the house with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The couple’s teenage son and daughter were inside the home at the time of the shooting but were not physically harmed. The 911 dispatch audio revealed the son’s distress as he reported the incident, with dispatchers initially describing a stabbing before the scene was clarified.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed that the incident unfolded amid a “complicated or messy divorce”. The couple had been separated but were still living together in separate bedrooms in the same home. Court records show that Cerina Fairfax had filed for divorce in July 2025. According to police, Justin Fairfax had been served with new divorce papers just days before the shooting, which included information about an upcoming court appearance.
Chief Davis noted that tensions surrounding the divorce proceedings appeared to be a significant factor leading up to the tragedy. “There wasn’t a pause, there was never a moment where someone was holed up in a room,” Davis said. “It all happened pretty spontaneously”.
The police chief also revealed that officers had been called to the home in January 2026 after Justin Fairfax accused his wife of assaulting him. However, Cerina Fairfax had installed surveillance cameras throughout the home during the divorce proceedings, and footage from those cameras disproved his claim. No charges were filed.
Justin Fairfax served as Virginia’s 41st lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 and was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party . His political career was derailed in 2019 when two women accused him of sexual assault, allegations he denied. He remained in office and later ran for governor in 2021, placing fourth in the Democratic primary . After leaving office, he worked as an attorney.
Cerina Fairfax was a dentist who ran a family dentistry practice in northern Virginia. She was a graduate of Duke University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, which honored her as its most outstanding alumna of the last decade in 2015.
The deaths have shocked the Annandale community and the broader political sphere. Virginia’s current lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi, called the deaths “devastating,” saying, “My thoughts are with their children, loved ones, and numerous friends”. D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who said he grew up with the Fairfax family, wrote on social media that he was “heartbroken beyond words”.
Police continue to review evidence as they finalize their investigation into the murder-suicide.