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

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By Rebekah Riess, Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, 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 same firearm appears to have been used in both shootings, Davis said.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding “what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said. Fairfax had recently been served paperwork indicating when he was next scheduled to appear in court in the divorce proceedings, Davis said.

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.

“So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said. “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.”

Fairfax, a Democrat, 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 was twice sued in recent years, both 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 is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.