Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed on Thursday, April 16, that Fairfax shot his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, just after midnight in the basement of their Guinevere Drive home in Annandale home. He then ran into the primary bedroom where he shot and killed himself, while his teenage children were in the house. One of the children made the 911 call, authorities said.
Investigators believe there was "an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what is believed to be a complicated or messy divorce." The two were separated at the time of the shooting, living together in separate bedrooms.
"From what I understand in this early stage, the former lieutenant governor was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that led to an incident last night," Davis said. "It all culminated last night."
"I can say that there were divorce proceedings underway, and court appearances pending in the very near future, including some served recently that indicated his next court appearance.
"That may have been a spark. Detectives will have to figure out what led to this tragedy here."
In January, police were called to the family home when Fairfax called and alleged his wife had assaulted him. A claim that was quickly debunked. During the divorce proceedings, Cerina Fairfax had set up cameras inside the home, which were later reviewed by investigators who corroborated that the alleged assault had never taken place.
The two had been married since June 2006.
A Pittsburgh native, Fairfax served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Ralph Northam.
"At one point in time, it's fair to say Justin Fairfax... before he was lieutenant governor... while serving as lieutenant governor... and even afterwards was a rising political star not just in Northern Virginia, but in Virginia," Davis said.
"So it's high-profile in nature, it's tragic in nature, and certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor."
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