Early morning reports indicate that former political rising star former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, once considered a rising figure in the Democratic Party before his political career was derailed by sexual assault allegations he denied, has been linked to a reported murder-suicide involving his estranged wife, according to statements attributed to police and court records.
Authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, said officers responded to a home in Annandale early Thursday, where they found Fairfax, 47, and his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, 49, deceased. Police Chief Kevin Davis stated that investigators believe Fairfax shot his wife in the basement before going upstairs and taking his own life. Their son reportedly called 911.
Justin Edward Fairfax (born February 17, 1979) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he became the second African American elected statewide in Virginia, following Douglas Wilder. In 2019, he faced sexual assault allegations dating to 2000 and 2004, which he denied.
Fairfax was a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia in the 2021 election, where he finished fourth in the primary with 3.54% of the vote.
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to Northeast Washington, D.C., at a young age. One of four children, he attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland, where he served as senior class president. He later graduated from Duke University with a degree in public policy and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review.
Early in his career, Fairfax worked on Capitol Hill and in national political campaigns, including serving on the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and working on the campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry. He later clerked for a federal judge and worked in private practice before serving as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he also contributed to anti-human trafficking efforts.
Fairfax first ran for public office in 2013, seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general of Virginia. Though he narrowly lost the primary, his campaign raised his profile within the party. He later held roles in both political campaigns and private law firms before being elected lieutenant governor in 2017.
