Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kills his wife and then himself, police say

By Rebekah Riess, Eric Levenson, Brian Todd, Dugald McConnell, CNN

(CNN) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a once-rising star in the Democratic Party whose tenure was marred by sexual assault allegations, shot and killed his wife, Cerina Fairfax, inside their home and then killed himself, police said.

The couple’s two teenage children were inside the home when the shootings occurred, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said, noting their son had placed the 911 call.

Fairfax County police responded to the home in Annandale, Virginia, shortly after midnight Thursday, where they found a man and woman dead inside, police said earlier.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding “what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said.

Cerina Fairfax filed for divorce on July 18, 2025, and the case status is pending, according to Fairfax County Circuit Court records. A show cause order issued April 10 directed Justin Fairfax to appear in court on April 21, the records show.

Detectives have reviewed the incident using “a lot of cameras,” which were set up inside the home as part of the couple’s ongoing divorce proceedings, Davis said. He noted that a call to police by Justin Fairfax in January, alleging assault by his wife, was not corroborated.

How the shooting unfolded

Fairfax appeared to have shot his wife several times in the basement of the home before running upstairs to the primary bedroom, where he shot and killed himself, Davis said. The couple had been living together in separate bedrooms while separated, he said.

The same firearm appears to have been used in both shootings, Davis said.

Dispatch audio recorded on Broadcastify captures the moments after the incident, as the couple’s son placed the 911 call.

“Caller stating that his dad might have stabbed his mom,” a dispatcher can be heard saying on the audio. The dispatcher adds that the caller said she was “lying on the ground bleeding” with holes in her shirt.

Officers can then be heard on the audio searching for a suspect, eventually finding a male matching the description with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“I think this is going to be our subject. He’s got a firearm with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” one officer can be heard saying.

Two bodies could be seen being removed from the home in body bags on stretchers around 10 a.m. Thursday.

“So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said Thursday morning. “Certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”

The children are being cared for by grandparents and other family members, with support from the Fairfax County Police Department’s victim services division, Davis said.

“Half of America probably goes through divorce proceedings at some point in time and very, very rarely, thankfully, does it ever end up like this,” Davis said. “So, very sad for this community … a lot of people who know the Fairfax family — everybody’s shocked. We’re shocked.”

Virginia Democrats expressed shock and horror following the news Thursday morning.

Sen. Mark Warner told reporters, “It’s awful news. I’ve worked with Justin for over a decade, and obviously, the idea that even his teenage kids were in the house, it’s a – it’s a huge tragedy.”

Fairfax chaired one of Warner’s reelection campaigns in the years before he was accused of sexual assault.

“I’m still just processing this, you know, I’m sure there’ll be an investigation, but let’s let it run its course,” Warner said.

Sen. Tim Kaine said he and Warner are “very heartbroken about this.”

Fairfax’s political rise and fall

Fairfax served as lieutenant governor under Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022. He also ran for governor of Virginia in 2021. He returned to practice law after serving as lieutenant governor, while his wife worked as a dentist, according to Davis.

Fairfax worked to pass gun violence prevention legislation during his time as lieutenant governor and repeatedly described gun violence as a “national health crisis emergency.”

“We need a new, innovative #HeadHandHeart approach to deliver universal and compassionate mental healthcare access and services, to keep weapons of war out of the hands of those at risk of harming others and themselves, and to address the internal damage and brokenness that drives people to cruelty and to want to destroy other people, families and communities,” Fairfax wrote in a 2023 Facebook post after leaving office.

Sexual assault allegations against Fairfax in 2019 came during a tumultuous time for Virginia politics, shortly after Northam was accused of appearing in blackface in a decades-old photo. As the Northam scandal played out, two women accused Fairfax of sexual assault — the first becoming public on a conservative website that covers Virginia politics and the second in a Washington Post story.

Fairfax repeatedly denied the allegations and called for investigations into the accusations, saying he was “confident” it would clear his name.

Financial troubles

In recent years, the former lieutenant governor was twice sued in “warrant in debt” cases tied to thousands of dollars in unpaid debts, Virginia court records show.

Capital One bank filed a warrant in debt, a type of civil lawsuit in Virginia, against Fairfax in October 2024 for a principal amount of $5,922.58, according to Fairfax County General District Court records. In May 2025, Discover Bank filed a warrant in debt against Fairfax for $23,871.31, according to court records.

The cases both resulted in default judgments in favor of the banks, the records show. A default judgment occurs when the defendant does not respond to the court summons or appear in court.

Glasser and Glasser, a Norfolk-based law firm that represented the banks in each case, did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Sara Smart, Dianne Gallagher, Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju, Casey Riddle and Alison Main contributed to this report.