Former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife Cerina Fairfax before turning the gun on himself, police said. The incident occurred at their home in Annandale, Virginia, early on Thursday morning. Police chief Kevin Davis said the killings happened amid an ongoing domestic dispute and a 'complicated or messy divorce'.
The couple's teenage children called 911 shortly after midnight. Fairfax, 47, was a Democrat who served from 2018 to 2022. He was considered a rising star until two women accused him of sexual assault in 2019, allegations he denied. The scandal derailed his career, and he finished fourth in the 2021 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Court documents obtained by the Washington Post paint a troubled picture. Fairfax consumed heavy amounts of alcohol daily and had grown isolated from his family. In 2022, he bought a gun and once left home with it and a packed suitcase. A judge in the divorce proceedings called him a 'talented man who struggles with undefined emotional and psychological issues'.
Police had been called to the residence once before in January, when Fairfax accused his wife of assault. After reviewing footage from cameras she had installed, officers determined no incident had occurred. A friend, journalist Sophia Nelson, said Fairfax was depressed and 'dealing with everything he had lost'.
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247.
