Former statewide official justin fairfax shot and killed his wife, Cerina Fairfax, inside their Annandale home and then killed himself, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
Officers responded shortly after a 911 call placed by the couple’s son and found a woman and a man dead inside, Davis said, adding the couple’s two teenage children were in the house during the shootings.
Davis said the man appeared to have shot his wife several times in the basement before running upstairs and fatally shooting himself in the primary bedroom, and that the same firearm appears to have been used in both shootings.
Dispatch audio recorded on Broadcastify captured the initial call and officers locating a male with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and detectives reviewed interior cameras that had been set up as part of the couple’s divorce proceedings, Davis said.
The Virginia Department of Health’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating the deaths, and Fairfax County Police Department victim services is providing support to the children, who are being cared for by grandparents and other family members, Davis said.
Background And Reactions
Justin Fairfax had served as lieutenant governor of Virginia and later returned to private legal practice, records and profiles show, and his tenure had been clouded by sexual assault allegations that he denied.
Court records tied to the couple’s pending divorce show Cerina Fairfax had been granted primary physical custody of the children and had filed for divorce, and a judicial order noted a show cause directive requiring Fairfax to appear in court.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. McEvoy wrote in a custody and visitation order that Fairfax had repeated problems with alcohol use, had “cloistered himself” at home after leaving state government, and had experienced material declines in mental and emotional health, according to the court order.
The judge’s order also recounts prior episodes that included a time Fairfax left home with a handgun and clothes and was later found in the woods of a public park, and the judge wrote that those facts painted a picture of a talented man struggling with undefined emotional and psychological issues.
Attorney Amy Spain, who previously worked with Cerina Fairfax on divorce paperwork, called her a “loving and devoted mother” and described her death as an “absolute tragedy,” the attorney said in a statement.
Political figures reacted with shock. Former governor Ralph Northam said he was devastated, Governor Abigail Spanberger noted the tragedy and warned domestic violence can occur in any family, and Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said they were heartbroken, according to statements and media reporting.
