VA Dentist Cerina Wanzer Fairfax ID’d As Victim In Thursday Murder-Suicide, Justin Fairfax Deceased Shooter

ANNANDALE, VA. (THECOUNT) — Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife, Cerina Wanzer Fairfax, inside their Annandale home early Thursday before turning the gun on himself, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed at a morning press conference. The couple’s two teenage children were inside the home when the shootings occurred; their son placed the 911 call just after midnight.

Justin Fairfax was 47 years old. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was a 49-year-old dentist who operated a family dentistry practice.

Officers responded to the 8100 block of Guinevere Drive in Annandale at approximately 12:15 a.m. and found both adults dead inside the residence. According to Chief Davis, Fairfax shot his wife several times in the basement of the home, then ran upstairs to the primary bedroom, where he shot and killed himself. The same firearm was used in both shootings. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Davis said the shooting stemmed from an ongoing domestic dispute tied to what he described as a “complicated or messy divorce.” Cerina Fairfax had filed for divorce on July 18, 2025, and the case remained pending at the time of the shooting, according to Fairfax County Circuit Court records. A show cause order issued April 10 had directed Justin Fairfax to appear in court on April 21. Davis said Fairfax had recently been served paperwork relating to his next court date, which investigators are examining as a possible precipitating factor.

The couple had been living together in separate bedrooms while separated, Davis said. Cerina Fairfax had installed surveillance cameras throughout the home as part of the divorce proceedings. Davis said detectives reviewed extensive camera footage in their investigation. He also noted that a call made by Justin Fairfax to police in January — in which he alleged assault by his wife — was not corroborated.

The couple’s teenage son and daughter, both high school students, were in the home at the time but were not injured. They are being cared for by grandparents and other family members, with support from the Fairfax County Police Department’s victim services division, Davis said. “So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said.

Justin Fairfax served as Virginia’s 41st Lieutenant Governor from January 2018 to January 2022 under Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, becoming the second African-American elected to statewide office in Virginia — the first being Douglas Wilder. Fairfax was born on February 17, 1979, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Washington, D.C. He graduated from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, attended Duke University, and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia before entering private practice and eventually politics. After leaving office, he returned to practicing law.

In 2019, two women accused Fairfax of sexual assault — Vanessa Tyson, who alleged an incident at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, and Meredith Watson, who alleged a 2000 incident while both attended Duke University. Fairfax denied both allegations, calling for investigations and saying he was confident they would clear his name. The allegations derailed what had been a rapidly rising political career and led to widespread Democratic calls for his resignation, which he refused. He ran for governor of Virginia in the 2021 Democratic primary but finished fourth with 3.54 percent of the vote.

In his later years, Fairfax faced financial difficulties. Capital One Bank filed a civil debt action against him in October 2024 for $5,922.58, and Discover Bank filed a similar action in May 2025 for $23,871.31, according to Fairfax County General District Court records. Both cases resulted in default judgments against him after he did not respond or appear.

Annandale is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, located approximately 10 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., in the Northern Virginia suburbs. Fairfax County is the most populous jurisdiction in Virginia and one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. Davis described the case as “a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”

The Fairfax County Police Department’s investigation is ongoing. The address on Guinevere Drive is a short walk from Camelot Elementary School.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.

The location of the Guinevere Drive residence in Annandale, Virginia can be viewed on Google Maps.

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