Flags across Virginia will be lowered next Monday (May 4) to honor the memory of Dr. Cerina Fairfax and other victims of domestic violence.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered today (Friday) that U.S. and Virginia flags be flown at half-staff on all state and local government buildings and grounds from sunrise to sunset, expressing a commitment to “helping those who face domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence.”
“We remember Dr. Cerina Fairfax’s life and her devotion to others, her patients, and most especially, her children,” Spanberger said in the order. “We honor her educational achievements, professional success, service to our Commonwealth, and her deep love for her family.”
A dentist who led her own practice in Fairfax City, Cerina Fairfax was fatally shot by her husband, former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, at their home in Annandale early in the morning of April 16. Justin Fairfax then shot and killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.
The couple’s two teen children were both in the house at the time, but neither were physically injured, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Married since 2006, the Fairfaxes separated in the summer of 2024 following years of reportedly volatile behavior by Justin Fairfax, who served as lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2021 but saw his political prospects fade after two women accused him of sexual assault in 2019.
After Cerina Fairfax filed for divorce last July, a Fairfax County judge granted her sole custody of their children and ordered Justin Fairfax to move out of their home by the end of April, multiple news outlets reported based on court documents. A court hearing had been scheduled for April 21.
The FCPD had visited the Fairfax home on previous occasions prior to the fatal shootings. According to Police Chief Kevin Davis, Justin Fairfax had claimed in January that his wife had assaulted him, but the allegation was proven false by footage from security cameras that Cerina Fairfax had set up inside the house.
Mourned by patients, colleagues and friends, Woodbridge native Cerina Fairfax was remembered as “a pillar of her community” driven by love for both her work at Fairfax Dentistry and Associates, which she founded in 2007, and her two children, according to her obituary.
“We honor Dr. Cerina Fairfax by drawing attention to the reality that women in any community or circumstance may face domestic violence,” Spanberger said, “and we lower the flags in memory of her and all women whose lives have been lost to domestic violence.”
Approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner, according to Fairfax County Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, which notes that the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, one-third of all homicides in the state each year stem from intimate partner and family violence. In addition, Virginia is among the top 10 states in the country for murder-suicide cases, with 173 since 2016 — all of which involved a firearm, WHRO reported.
This year, Spanberger signed two bills patroned by Fairfax Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) to bolster Virginia’s red flag law, which allows courts to temporarily remove a gun from someone’s possession if they’re believed to pose a danger to themselves or other people.
The law has been in place since 2020, but the revisions expand who can request an emergency removal order and establish a training program to help law enforcement implement and raise awareness of the option.
If you or anyone who know is experiencing domestic violence and needs help, Fairfax County has a 24-hour hotline at 703-360-7273, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting “START” to 88788. A Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be called or texted at 988.
