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In a tragic turn of events, former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax is alleged to have fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, before taking his own life in what authorities are investigating as a murder-suicide.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis shared details during a press conference, revealing that the couple’s teenage children were home at the time of the incident on April 16. According to Davis, Justin Fairfax reportedly shot Cerina in the basement of their residence shortly after midnight. He then moved to an upstairs bedroom, where he allegedly used the same firearm to end his own life.
“This is a high-profile case with a deeply tragic nature,” Davis remarked on the incident. “It represents a significant fall from grace for a family that appeared to have many positive aspects. The tragedy is compounded for their children, who have lost both parents and were present in the home during these devastating events.”
The couple’s teenage son made a distress call to 911 amidst what Davis described as a “very chaotic situation.”
Police arrived swiftly at the scene, where both Justin and Cerina Fairfax were pronounced dead.
“Our victim services division, like they always do, is leaning into the to the family, the surviving relatives, the children in particular,” Davis said. “We’ll do everything we can for them.”
According to Davis, the couple was going through a “messy” divorce at the time of incident.
Justin—who had returned to work as an attorney after serving as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor—had recently been served paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding, which Davis said “apparently led to this incident.”
“Apparently, the paperwork indicated when he was next to appear in court,” Davis explained. “That may have been a spark. You know, detectives will figure that out.”
Police said they have footage from cameras placed throughout the home, which show what happened that night.
Davis said Cerina, a dentist, installed the cameras inside the home at some point during the divorce proceedings.
It wasn’t the first time police were called to the home. In January, Justin alleged that his wife had assaulted him. At the time, investigators relied on the cameras to refute Justin’s claims.
“We reviewed those cameras and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred,” Davis said during the press conference. “So there was no arrest made.”
It was the only known call for service to the house, Davis said.
“The family was going through, seemingly a very tough time with the separation, with the divorce,” Davis said.”I can only imagine the stress that the parents felt, the kids felt, and the other family members as well.”
The couple’s two children are now in the care of relatives.
While in office, two women came forward in 2019 to publicly accuse Justin of sexual assault in alleged incidents occurring in 2000 and 2004, per The New York Post. Justin insisted both incidents had been consensual.
He lost a bid for governor in 2021.