ANNANDALE, Va. — Cerina Fairfax was on the cusp of a new life. After nearly two decades of marriage to former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a man she alleged had become a “raging alcoholic” and deadbeat husband, she was just days away from a divorce trial that would finally sever their legal ties. On the morning of April 15, she told her best friend she was “finally going to be free.”
Less than 24 hours later, Justin Fairfax, 47, shot Cerina, 49, multiple times in the basement of their million‑dollar Annandale home before turning the gun on himself. The couple’s two teenage children, ages 14 and 16, were inside at the time; their son was forced to call 911. The Fairfax County Police Department is investigating the incident as a murder‑suicide.
“We had less than a week before the divorce trial. As far as Cerina was concerned, she had a few more days to go and it would all be over,” Glennetta White, Cerina’s best friend of 25 years, told the Daily Mail. “She was not in fear of her life — she was just desperate to get some normalcy back.”
White, a retired dental school classmate who now lives in South Africa, had spoken with Cerina on the morning of April 15. The conversation was ordinary: Cerina was shopping at a Giant grocery store, stocking up for her dental office, and she was upbeat about the final steps of the separation.
“She told me about the latest things that Justin had filed in the divorce. They were ridiculous,” White said, declining to give specifics.
A Marriage Unraveled: From ‘Rising Star’ to ‘Deadbeat’
Justin Fairfax was once a Democratic golden boy. A former federal prosecutor and civil litigator, he served as Virginia’s 41st lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 and was widely seen as a future governor. But his political trajectory ended abruptly in 2019 when two women publicly accused him of sexual assault — Vanessa Tyson alleged a 2004 attack at the Democratic National Convention, and Meredith Watson accused him of raping her at Duke University in 2000. Fairfax denied both claims, calling the encounters consensual, and was never charged.
Nevertheless, the allegations devastated his career. He left office in 2022 and launched a private legal practice from his home, but he struggled to attract clients. According to divorce filings, his practice earned more than $400,000 in 2023, but income plummeted to just $11,000 in 2024; by November 2025, he had recorded zero income. A friend told The Post, “He couldn’t find a job really after.”
At home, Cerina told the court, Fairfax had become a “raging alcoholic.” Court documents describe him locking himself in the family’s office, living among “empty wine bottles, trash, and piles of dirty laundry,” and surfacing only “long enough to get food or smoke cigarettes.” A March 30 custody ruling noted “clear and convincing evidence that he had reacted to personal setbacks by retreating into solitude coupled with heavy alcohol use.”
Fairfax also stopped paying the mortgage, child support, and other household bills. Cerina, a successful dentist who ran a local practice, financially supported the family on her own. She installed security cameras throughout the house to monitor her husband’s behavior. In January 2026, Justin called police to falsely accuse Cerina of assault; officers reviewed the footage and determined the claim was unfounded.
The Handgun Purchased With Children’s Horseback‑Riding Money
Perhaps the most disturbing detail to emerge from court records is that in 2022, Fairfax used cash intended for his children’s horseback‑riding lessons to purchase a handgun. The judge overseeing the divorce wrote that this act, along with his self‑isolation and alcohol abuse, demonstrated that Fairfax was “currently unable” to have a healthy relationship with his children.
Cerina believed the gun had been removed from the home after an earlier mental‑health crisis. “She would not have stayed there if she knew he had a gun in the house,” White said.
‘He Was Shutting Her Down’: The Final Court Date That Never Came
The couple was scheduled to appear in Fairfax County Circuit Court on April 21 — less than a week after the murder‑suicide — for a property and support trial. White believes Fairfax could not face the public airing of his failures.
“He was shutting Cerina down from telling the truth at this hearing,” White said. “He wanted to be famous, he wanted a legacy, but I doubt this is what he had in mind.”
In March, a judge had granted Cerina primary physical custody of their two teenagers and ordered Justin to leave the family home by the end of April. He was allowed unsupervised visitation, provided he passed a breathalyzer test an hour before seeing the children. Legal experts have since questioned whether that safeguard was adequate.
“Somebody can blow into a breathalyzer an hour ahead of time and start drinking immediately after,” said Mehagen McRae, a domestic relations attorney. “If I’ve got a parent who is drinking, you’re putting these kids in a vulnerable situation.”
Tashina Gorgone, another family law attorney, added, “The court emphasized what a good father it thought he could be with treatment, but it didn’t order him to go. It’s not protective of children. It’s not protective of women.”
A Tragedy in the Context of Domestic Violence
The Fairfax murder‑suicide fits a grim national pattern. According to a 2025 report by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an average of 19 women are killed each month by an intimate partner in a homicide‑suicide involving a firearm. A firearm was the primary weapon in 85% of such incidents, and the presence of a gun makes it five times more likely that an abuser will kill their female partner.
Nationally, studies show that intimate partners are involved in nearly half of all female homicides, and in one of every three intimate‑partner homicides, the perpetrator then dies by suicide.
“When you have a parent who has alcohol issues, mental health issues, and access to firearms, it’s a good indicator that there is a potential for something volatile like this to happen,” McRae said.
What’s Next: Custody of the Orphaned Teens
With both parents dead, the couple’s two teenage children are now in the care of relatives. Child Protective Services has been notified, and the pending divorce will be dismissed.
White, still struggling to process the loss, told the Daily Mail she cried for 40 minutes after receiving the news.
“It’s like an out‑of‑body experience. I still can’t believe that it’s true. It feels like losing Martin Luther King, to me.”
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available:
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988
FAQ: The Justin Fairfax Murder‑Suicide
Q: When and where did the murder‑suicide occur?
A: In the early morning hours of April 16, 2026, at the Fairfax family home in Annandale, Virginia.
Q: Were the children home?
A: Yes, the couple’s two teenage children, ages 14 and 16, were inside the home. Their son called 911.
Q: What did Cerina Fairfax say to her friend before she died?
A: She told her best friend, Glennetta White, that she was “finally going to be free” as the divorce trial approached.
Q: What were the key allegations in the divorce?
A: Cerina alleged Justin was a “raging alcoholic,” a “deadbeat” who failed to pay bills, had purchased a handgun with his children’s horseback‑riding money, and had become emotionally absent from the family.
Q: Did Justin Fairfax have a criminal record?
A: He faced sexual assault allegations in 2019 but was never charged. In January 2026, he falsely accused Cerina of assault; police found the claim to be untrue.
Q: Where can I find more information?
A: Follow Fairfax County Police Department updates or consult domestic violence resources.
