Divorce papers filed by Cerina Fairfax against her husband, Justin Fairfax, ex Virginia Lt Governor stated he was deadbeat dad & alcoholic who lived in squalor, dodged bills and used funds earmarked for their children’s activities on a handgun.
In new revealed details involving the former Virginia Lt. Governor who murdered his wife, before taking his own life, filed divorce papers filed by the victim listed a litany of grievances.
Investigators believe ongoing tensions between the estranged couple who were living in the same house and had been embroiled in a fractured relationship and the public demise of the Democrat hopeful finally erupted this week after he was served divorce paper work for a court appearance next week.
Domestic violence triggered by upcoming divorce court hearing
Cops were called to the estranged couple’s million dollar Annandale residence just after midnight on Tuesday after the couple’s teen son spotted blood and hearing commotion.
Fairfax County deputies arriving at the scene found Cerina Fairfax, 49, unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds inside the house.
Investigators later found Justin Fairfax, 47, in his bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Both husband and wife were pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators believe the lethal domestic violence was triggered after the scandal plagued former lieutenant governor, previously alleged to have sexually assaulted two women was served divorce papers ahead of an upcoming court date just days earlier. Court records show the couple were due back in court next week.
Scandal plagued former Lt Governor inner turmoil descent
Cerina, 49, filed for divorce from Fairfax in July last year, alleging that he was a ‘deadbeat’ father and alcoholic, according to court filings obtained by the dailymail.
She alleged that he defaulted on the mortgage, dodged paying household bills, and even spent money earmarked for their children’s horseback riding lessons on a handgun, according to the filing. The couple shared two teen children, a boy and a girl.
The couple had been married for 20 years but separated in June 2024 and were in the midst of what Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis called a ‘messy divorce.’
Fairfax had been drinking heavily and would lock himself in his home office, only surfacing ‘long enough to get food or smoke cigarettes,’ the divorce documents said.
His estranged wife described in the petition how Fairfax was living in squalor, surrounded by ’empty wine bottles, trash and piles of dirty laundry’.
She further said that Fairfax ‘had chosen not to be a productive member of the family and that the dictionary definition of “deadbeat” was accurate as applied to him.’
A judge noted in the court filings that Fairfax did not dispute the claims Cerina made against him.
High profile public demise of former political contender
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described the case as both ‘high profile’ and deeply tragic, noting Fairfax’s once-prominent political standing.
‘At one point in time, I think it’s fair to say that Justin Fairfax was a rising star politically, not just in Northern Virginia, but in Virginia,’ Davis said. ‘So it’s high profile in nature. It’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.’
The couple had been living at their sprawling 2000sq foot suburban home despite being separated and were understood to have separate bedrooms, police said.
Officers were previously called to the residence in January this year after Fairfax alleging Cerina assaulting him inside the home.
After reviewing security cameras, detectives said the claim was unfounded, WTKR reported.
Investigators determined that the alleged assault never occurred, police said.
Scandal plagued former Virginia Lt Governor and failed Democrat hopeful
Fairfax, a Democrat and former federal prosecutor and civil litigator, served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 under then-governor Ralph Northam.
He launched his own bid for governor in 2021, but finished fourth in the Democratic primary after his campaign was marred by sexual assault allegations from two women.
Fairfax denied the women’s allegations and said both encounters were entirely consensual.
In 2019, a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2004, and another woman accused him of raping her when they were both college students in 2004.
Despite marred in scandal and implored to resign, Fairfax went on to finish his term with wife Cerina standing by him.
Justin Fairfax met Cerina Fairfax at Duke University in 1997. The couple went on to celebrate their 11 year wedding anniversary in 2017.
