ANNANDALE, VIRGINIA — Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shot his wife multiple times before killing himself at their Annandale, Virginia, home on Thursday morning, according to Fairfax County police. The couple's two teenage children were inside the home at the time of the shooting.

Fairfax County police responded to an emergency call just after midnight local time from the couple's son, who said he believed his mother had been stabbed. Officers found Cerina Fairfax's body with bullet casings nearby, and investigators determined there had been no prolonged confrontation before the shooting.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the killings appeared to stem from marital problems. "This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce." Davis described the sequence of events as rapid. "I think it all kind of happened at once. There wasn't a pause. It all happened pretty spontaneously."

According to county court records, the couple was in the middle of divorce proceedings. They initially separated in June 2024 while continuing to live in the same home, and Cerina Fairfax filed for divorce in July 2025. Police said the two had been living together but were separated. In January 2025, Justin Fairfax called police alleging his wife had assaulted him, but a subsequent review of camera footage disproved the allegation. Justin Fairfax had also recently been served paperwork related to an upcoming court proceeding before the shooting.

Justin Fairfax, 47, served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022 and was the second Black person elected to statewide office in Virginia. During his tenure, two women made allegations of sexual assault against him, which he denied. He ran for governor in 2021 but lost in the Democratic primary. Earlier in his career, he worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and later practiced at private law firms. Cerina Fairfax, 49, was a dentist. The two met at Duke University.

Former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who served alongside Fairfax, responded to the deaths in a statement. "Pam and I are devastated by this heartbreaking news. I had the privilege of getting to know the Fairfaxes while our families served together."