Justin Fairfax Was an Alcoh*lic, Not Paying Child Support or Mortgage, Wife Claimed — and Was Due in Court Days After Murder-Suicide

The former Virginia lieutenant governor and his wife Cerina were going through a “messy” divorce, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters

Court documents related to Justin Fairfax outline ongoing personal and financial disputes in the period leading up to a fatal incident that is now under investigation. The filings reference issues involving finances, family responsibilities, and a pending court appearance.

Fairfax, 47, and his wife Cerina, a dentist, were each found dead in their Annandale, Va., home early on the morning of April 16, authorities said. Their children were both home at the time. Their son Cameron, who called 911, initially thought his mother had been stabbed to death, but police later determined she had been shot and found Fairfax in an upstairs bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Kevin Davis, chief of police in Fairfax County, told reporters Thursday morning that the two were in the middle of a “messy” divorce, even though they still lived together. The shocking killing came soon after Fairfax was served with papers in the case, Davis said. Fairfax County Circuit Court records indicate Fairfax was due to appear before a judge on Tuesday, April 21.

The pair married in 2006 and separated in June 2024, according to an amended divorce complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

The following year, Cerina filed for divorce, alleging that Fairfax had failed to abide by the terms of their postnuptial agreement “in any form.”

Cerina claimed that Fairfax had failed to pay his 50% share for their children’s private school tuition and extracurricular activities, or to cover household expenses like family groceries and utilities. He also failed to pay the mortgage on their home, she claimed in the divorce complaint.

“Husband does not make any financial contributions to support the Wife and their children,” wrote Cerina. “All financial responsibilities are born exclusively by Wife.”

Fairfax went on to submit a “demurrer” in court contesting his wife’s claims, specifically her intentions to remain permanently separate despite the fact they still shared a home.

On Feb. 27, Cerina filed an opposition motion in response, in which she claimed her estranged husband was an “alcoholic” and noted he “was accused of sexual assault by third parties.”

The former politician had “allowed the marital home to go into foreclosure while spending marital funds on extravagant trips for third parties,” Cerina claimed, and he had also “incurred substantial debts” without telling his wife. Civil court records show Fairfax had defaulted on nearly $30,000 of credit card debt in 2025.

On April 10, Fairfax was ordered to appear before a judge. Three days later, he filed two final motions in court, in which he claimed his wife had filed her divorce complaint in “bad faith” because, since they still lived together, she had not “demonstrated an intent to permanently separate.”

Three days after that, both of them were dead.

Fairfax served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, under Gov. Ralph Northam.

Northam became engulfed in scandal in 2019 related to an old photo purportedly showing him donning blackface, which he denied. With the governor facing widespread calls for his resignation, attention turned to Fairfax, who would have become Virginia’s second Black governor.

But soon, Fairfax was embroiled in a scandal of his own when two women accused him of sexual assault: one said he raped her while they were students at Duke University in 2000, while another said he forced her to perform oral sex at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Fairfax ran for governor in 2021 but finished in fourth in the Democratic primary, with just 3.54% of the vote.