FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife Dr. Cerina Fairfax before killing himself inside their Annandale home early Thursday, in what police describe as a domestic-related murder-suicide amid an ongoing divorce dispute.
Fairfax County police said officers responded shortly after midnight April 16 to the 8100 block of Guinevere Drive, where they found the bodies.
Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed Fairfax was the shooter and described the killing as “tragic in nature” for what had been a high-profile family.
Davis said the murder occurred in a partially finished basement, where Fairfax shot his wife several times before running upstairs to the primary bedroom and killing himself with the same firearm.
The couple’s two teenage children were inside the home at the time and unharmed, but Davis called the incident “extra tragic” because they witnessed the violence.
The couple had been engaged in divorce proceedings, and Justin Fairfax was recently served court paperwork for an upcoming hearing.
Watch: Police chief discusses Fairfax family murder-suicide
In January, Justin Fairfax called police to report that his wife had assaulted him, but Davis said multiple cameras installed inside the house by Mrs. Fairfax captured the encounter and showed the alleged assault did not occur. No arrests were made.
Davis said victim services staff are working closely with surviving relatives to support the children.
“Tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said.
Fairfax, once regarded as a rising political star in Virginia, served as lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022.
For a brief period in 2019, Fairfax had seemed poised to become Virginia governor as Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam became engulfed in a scandal over a racist photo on his medical school yearbook that led to calls for Northam’s resignation.
But then two women came forward, accusing Fairfax of sexually assaulting them years earlier. He adamantly denied the allegations.
One of the women — at the time a Columbia Law School student serving as an aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards — said Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.
Two days after her statement, a second woman issued her own, accusing Fairfax of raping her in 2000, when they were students at Duke University.
Justin Fairfax said the encounters were consensual and refused calls to resign.
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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