Former Democratic Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax was described as a raging alcoholic and absent father prior to an alleged murder-suicide amid a “messy divorce,” according to documents obtained by the New York Post on Thursday (April 16).
Fairfax, 47, allegedly drank so heavily that he’d lock himself away in the office of his family’s home among “empty wine bottles, trash and piles of dirty laundry” and only emerge “long enough to get food or smoke cigarettes,” the documents state. The former lieutenant governor also reportedly used money intended to finance his teenage children’s horseback riding lessons to purchase a handgun in 2022, allowed the family’s mortgage to go into default and ignored household bills.
Cerina Fairfax, who was reportedly shot repeatedly by her husband before he turned the gun on himself, claims he “had chosen not to be a productive member of the family and that the dictionary definition of ‘deadbeat’ was accurate as applied to him,” according to the filing. The suspected murder-suicide was reported to have taken place basement of their home in Annandale just after midnight prior to turning the gun on himself while their two teenage children were inside the home, according to police.
“This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said via the New York Post. “I don’t think it’s a secret that there’s been a divorce proceedings that have been ongoing. 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.”
The couple was reportedly separated but still living together amid divorce proceedings, according to police. Cerina initially filed for divorce last July, according to court documents.
Fairfax faced sexual assault claims during his time in office in 2019, with at least two women accusing him of incidents that allegedly took place in 2000 and 2004. The former lieutenant governor claimed that both sexual encounters were consensual and refused to resign, instead launching a failed bid for governor in 2021 and ultimately leaving his post after being defeated by Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in 2022.
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