Former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax is one of two people found dead early this morning (Thursday) after an apparent murder-suicide in Annandale.
Fairfax, 47, shot and killed his wife, 49-year-old Cerina Wanzer Fairfax, before turning the gun on himself inside the family’s home in the 8100 block of Guinevere Drive, the Fairfax County Police Department confirmed.
“Justin Fairfax shot several times and killed his wife, ran to a different part of the home and then killed himself with the same firearm,” Police Chief Kevin Davis said in a press briefing shortly before 9 a.m.
Officers responded to the home around 12:15 a.m. after the body of Cerina Fairfax was located by the couple’s son bleeding and “with holes in her shirt,” according to scanner traffic.
Officers are on scene of a death investigation in the 8100 block of Guinevere Dr in Annandale. An adult male & an adult female were found deceased inside a residence. Preliminarily, all parties are accounted for & there is no threat to the community. Detectives are investigating. pic.twitter.com/O1dC9ayb68
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) April 16, 2026
The body of Justin Fairfax was located approximately 10 minutes later in a different bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, one first responder said.
Both subjects were pronounced dead at the scene. The couple’s children, both teenagers, were in the home at the time of the shootings but were uninjured.
According to the FCPD, officers found cartridge casings and a firearm at the scene, but an official confirmation of the manner and cause of the pair’s deaths won’t be available until the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner completes autopsies.
The couple, which had been married since 2006, was in the midst of divorce proceedings initiated last year. A hearing in a no-jury trial was scheduled to take place next Tuesday (April 21) after a judge ordered Justin Fairfax last month to move out of his family’s home by the end of April, Fairfax County court records show.
At the time of the shootings, Justin Fairfax was still living in the home, but he occupied a separate bedroom from his wife, according to police.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated, or messy, divorce,” Davis said.
Davis said his officers responded to the home in January after Justin Fairfax alleged his wife had assaulted him.
“There are several cameras set up inside the house,” the police chief said. “Apparently, Mrs. Fairfax, at some point during these divorce proceedings, set up a lot of cameras inside the home. We reviewed those cameras, and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred. So, there was no arrest made.”
Justin Fairfax, who most recently worked as a local attorney, served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Ralph Northam from 2018 through 2021. He had faced pressure to resign from his post in 2019 after two women alleged that he had sexually assaulted them — revelations that emerged as Northam and then-Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to wearing blackface in the past.
Vanessa Tyson said Fairfax — at the time a Columbia Law School student serving as an aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards — forced her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Two days after Tyson’s statement, Meredith Watson issued her own, accusing Fairfax of raping her in 2000, when they were students at Duke University.
Fairfax denied the allegations and sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2021, but was eliminated in the primary before returning to private life.
Local and state elected officials in shock
Shortly after the deaths were confirmed by the FCPD, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a statement that he wished to “express my heartfelt condolences to those impacted by the tragic event that took place this morning.”
He also shared hotlines that can help people experiencing domestic violence or mental health challenges:
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can contact the Fairfax County Domestic and Sexual Violence 24-Hour Hotline at 703-360-7273 for support and resources.
If you are facing mental health challenges or are in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Federal and state leaders were also stunned by this morning’s events.
“We are keeping Cerina and Justin Fairfax’s family — especially their two children — in our prayers as we all process this shocking and horrifying news,” Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a joint statement. “We urge any Virginians impacted by domestic violence to call the police or the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support.”
Ghazala Hashmi, Virginia’s current lieutenant governor, called the deaths devastating.
“My thoughts are with their children, loved ones, and numerous friends,” Hashmi said in a statement. “Along with so many in the Commonwealth, I am filled with sorrow; I await further insights from our law enforcement officials.”
In a statement released shortly after 1:30 p.m., Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of Justin Fairfax and Cerina Wanzer Fairfax, asking her “fellow Virginians to hold them in their hearts and prayers”:
“The murder of Dr. Cerina Fairfax in an apparent murder-suicide is a horrific tragedy. Dr. Fairfax was a devoted mother, beloved dentist in the Fairfax County community, and engaged supporter of her alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University. My prayers are with the Wanzer and Fairfax families as they mourn their own loss, endeavor to make sense of this tragedy, and comfort the Fairfax children.
“This tragedy reminds us that domestic violence can occur in any family and in any place. Resources are available to support our neighbors experiencing domestic violence and facing mental health crises.”
