Former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax was scheduled to appear in court days after he and his estranged wife, Cerina Fairfax, were both found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
Justin had been set to appear in court on April 21, according to Fairfax County Circuit Court records viewed by People. Cerina filed for divorce in July 2025 and an updated motion in February 2026, accusing the politician of being an “alcoholic” and having substantial debt.
People reported that Justin was ordered on April 10 to appear in court. In response to the court order, Justin filed a new motion and claimed that Cerina filed her divorce petition in “bad faith” because they still lived in the same house.
Justin and Cerina were both found dead on Thursday, April 16. They were 47 and 48, respectively.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce. So far what we know is what you know,” police chief Kevin Davis said in a press conference. “There seems to be divorce proceedings that have been ongoing.”
Justin and Cerina got married in 2006 and separated two decades later in 2024. (They are survived by their two children, Cameron and Carys.)
“From what I understand at this early stage, [Justin] was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding. That apparently led to the incident last night,” Davis said in his Thursday press conference. “Both of their children, teenagers … were in the house when it happened. That’s horrible news for the family, certainly a traumatic event for those children to live through.”
According to Davis, Justin shot Cerina “several times” in one room of the house. He later reportedly ran to another area of the residence and shot himself.
Justin, who served as the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022, previously called the police department in January after an alleged domestic violence altercation with Cerina. Davis said on Thursday that the politician claimed Cerina physically assaulted him at their house.
“We reviewed the cameras [in the home] and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred,” the police officer said. “There was no arrest made, there was a report written but the allegation that Mr. Fairfax made in January that Mrs. Fairfax assaulted him was proven to be untrue.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
