A man killed a woman before taking his own life in a murder-suicide at a $1 million Virginia home owned by former Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, according to reports early Thursday. Officers were dispatched to the residence on Guinevere Drive in Annandale in the early morning hours, according to the Fairfax County Police.
Property records reviewed by the Daily Mail confirm that the home belongs to the former Virginia lieutenant governor, 47, and his wife, Cerina, 49, the outlet reported. Authorities have not revealed the identities of the deceased, but a press conference is expected to take place shortly.
Police arrived at the residence just after midnight after a 911 caller reported that he believed his father had stabbed his mother. Upon arrival, officers found a woman unconscious and bleeding inside the home.
They later determined that she had been shot, said the report.
The son, whose age has not been disclosed, told the responding officers that he did not know where his father was.
Investigators eventually located the man in a separate area of the home with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
“It is high profile in nature, it’s tragic in nature. Certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had had a lot of things going in their favor,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said of the shocking violence.
“So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred. So yeah, a lot is going on.”
The couple, who had been married 20 years, were separated but still living together amid the ongoing divorce proceedings, cops confirmed.
Cerina first slapped the former federal prosecutor with the divorce papers in July last year, according to court records.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that there’s been an ongoing divorce proceeding. From what I understand in this early stage, former Lieutenant Governor Fairfax was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night.”
Fairfax is a former top Virginia Democrat whose political career was significantly impacted by allegations of sexual misconduct.
Fairfax served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022 and was once viewed as a rising figure in state and national politics. In 2019, he faced allegations from two women accusing him of sexual assault stemming from separate incidents in the early 2000s. Fairfax denied the allegations, calling them false and politically motivated.
The controversy drew national attention and led to calls for his resignation, though he remained in office through the end of his term. No criminal charges were filed in connection with the allegations. After leaving office, Fairfax made an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2021.
“The tragic saga unfolded just months after police responded to the family’s home back in January after Fairfax falsely accused his wife of assaulting him. Investigators later determined he’d lied after reviewing footage from multiple cameras that the wife had set up inside the home. It wasn’t immediately clear when, or why, Fairfax’s wife installed the cameras. The reason for their split was also unclear. The apparent marriage woes came several years after Fairfax was hit with a slew of sexual assault claims while he was in office in 2019,” the New York Post reported.