At 49 years old, mother of two, Cerina Fairfax, was preparing to confront her husband in a divorce trial slated for Tuesday morning.
However, her husband, a disgraced political figure known for his heavy drinking, ensured Cerina would never have that chance. Tragically, he took her life on Thursday before committing suicide at their million-dollar residence in Annandale, near Washington, D.C.
“I kept telling her everything was going to be okay,” shared Glennetta White, 66, a close friend, in an exclusive conversation with the Daily Mail.
“We were just days away from the divorce trial. Cerina was counting down to the moment she would finally be free,” Glennetta recalled.
The friendship between Glennetta and Cerina began at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry and flourished over 25 years.
Glennetta retired and emigrated to South Africa last year but the devoted pair talked on the phone every day.
‘We spoke on Wednesday morning. Cerina was in Giant getting some stuff for her office,’ she said. ‘She told me about the latest things that Justin had filed in the divorce. They were ridiculous.’
But she had talked to her attorney and she felt good. It was a pretty normal conversation.
Former Virginia Lt Gov Justin Fairfax murdered his wife Cerina early Thursday morning before turning the gun on himself, police said
The apparent murder-suicide took place while the couple’s children, now in their teens, were also home
Glennetta White, who was best friends with Cerina Fairfax for 25 years, spoke to her just hours before she was killed
‘She was not in fear of her life – she was just desperate to get some normalcy back.
‘Less than 24 hours later, Glennetta got a call to say Cerina had been murdered.
Her bullet-riddled body was discovered by the couple’s orphaned son Cameron, 16, just after midnight Thursday.
Cops confirmed the shooter was Cerina’s husband of nearly 20 years.
‘When her brother said Justin had killed Cerina I just cried and cried for 30 to 40 minutes,’ Glenetta said, choking back tears.
‘It’s like an out of body experience. I still can’t believe that it’s true. It feels like losing Martin Luther King, to me.’
Justin was considered a rising Democratic star when he served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, only the second African American to win statewide office in the Old Dominion.
But when multiple women came forward in 2019 accusing him of sexual assault, his political career stalled and his mental health deteriorated.
Glennetta told the Daily Mail that Cerina sounded hopeful, telling her friend she felt she was ‘finally going to be free’ as her divorce trial approached and an end to her troubled marriage seemed within reach
The murder suicide took place in their $1 million house in Annandale in the early hours of Thursday. The couple were separated but living together with their kids
Justin Fairfax and his wife Cerina, seen with their daughter Carys and son Cameron in an old family photograph
He denied raping one accuser and forcing the second to perform oral sex, and Cerina stood by his side.
Behind the scenes, however, Justin drank heavily and locked himself away in his office among ’empty wine bottles, trash and piles of dirty laundry,’ according to court filings.
He also stole cash set aside to pay for the children’s horse-riding lessons to buy a handgun, the filings state.
Months later Justin packed a suitcase and vanished.
‘Cerina found out that he was in the woods with the gun,’ Glennetta told the Daily Mail.
‘His family, his brothers came out to talk to him. He did not say he was going to kill himself or threaten anyone with it but it was clear he was having some sort of breakdown.
‘They separated for a while. Cerina told him he had to get his life back together before he could come back.
‘As far as she knew that gun had been taken away from him.’
Fairfax’s political career derailed after he was accused of sexual assault in 2019. He denied the allegations and his wife stood by him throughout it. Glennetta told the Daily Mail that Cerina believed her husband’s past erratic behavior, including heavy drinking and a prior gun incident, had been dealt with before her death
Cerina filed for divorce in July last year but the couple continued to live under the same roof, retreating to separate corners of their four-bed, 2,000-square-foot marital home.
Glennetta said her friend had no idea her husband still had access to a firearm.
‘She would not have stayed there if she knew he had a gun in the house,’ the shaken pal insisted.
‘We already agreed the moment that you think something is not right, leave, go to your mamas.
‘Things were far from alright, however.When Justin kept eating the kids’ food and failing to replace it, Cerina bought a second refrigerator and kept it in her room.
She installed cameras in communal areas so she could monitor what her chain-smoking, lay about husband was up to while she ran the family dental practice.
She was determined to keep things civil in front of Cameron and his kid sister Carys, 14 – but court papers point to occasional violence.
In 2019 Cerina struck her husband with a ‘flurry of slaps’ after she found out he was cheating on her, according to court records.
The Fairfax family at a basketball game at DeMatha Catholic High School in December 2022
His filings include photos of a scar supposedly ‘inflicted’ on his left leg that same year.
This past January Justin told police she had assaulted him again but the accusation quickly unraveled.
‘Justin called 911 and had an ambulance, a fire truck, two cop cars and a gurney coming up to the door,’ Glennetta recalled.’
He had been recording her, trying to provoke her, trying to get anything he could use against her.
‘On the audio he was saying ‘don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, you slammed my foot in a door.”
But when the cops looked at the video it didn’t match the audio at all. He was the one leaning against the door.’
In March, Cerina was awarded primary custody of both children, with Justin only permitted visits if he consented to alcohol testing before and after.
She asked the court to hold him in contempt of court if he failed to pay his share of the bills or contribute to the kids’ $56,000-a-year private school fees.
Fairfax’s wife filed for divorce last year and court records indicated that the top Democrat was struggling with it and was drinking daily
The couple’s living situation was reportedly tense but controlled, with Cerina installing cameras and separating spaces to protect herself and maintain normalcy for the children
He had until the end of April to vacate their home, which he littered with hundreds of cigarette butts.
All that remained was the 10am, April 21 property and support trial taking place over two days at Fairfax Circuit Court.
Justin, a lawyer who had not had clients for several years, was due to represent himself.
Financial filings show his earnings plummeted from $400,000 in 2023 to $11,000 a year later.
In 2025 he earned nothing while racking up more than $750,000 in debts.
‘I think Justin didn’t want to be exposed,’ Glennetta said.’
He was shutting Cerina down from telling the truth at this hearing.’
She described her slain friend as a ‘wonderful mother’ and one of the sweetest people she had ever met.’Justin had already disengaged from society.
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax answers a question during a Democratic primary debate held in Bristol, Virginia on May 6, 2021
But Cerina had not,’ Glennetta said. ‘She had kids to raise, a business to run, and a family who adored her. My heart is broken that her kids have lost both parents.
‘She was talking about the future, she was thinking of coming out to Cape Town in the fall. She was moving on, turning the page.’
And as for Justin?
‘He wanted to be famous, he wanted a legacy, but I doubt this is what he had in mind,’ Glennetta added.
‘He took a big chunk of life away from a lot of people.’
