Former Lt. Governor and Giffords ‘Gun Safety Champion’ Kills Wife, Self in Northern Virginia

Former Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, once a rising star in Democratic politics in the state and the tie-breaking vote in favor of the state’s “red flag” law, shot and killed his wife in their northern Virginia home on Wednesday night before taking his own life. 

Fairfax was touted as a “gun safety champion” by the gun control Giffords after he won election in 2017. “Fairfax has not backed down from addressing gun violence in Virginia, despite his opponent’s steadfast opposition to safer gun laws,” Giffords shared in a press release. “Throughout the course of his campaign, Justin proved that he has the courage to stick to his convictions and put the interests of Virginia families first.” 

That last line is especially cringeworthy given that the couple’s teenage son and daughter were apparently in the home when their father murdered their mom before taking his own life. 

#BREAKING Fairfax County’s Police Chief Kevin Davis confirms former VA Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax shot &
killed his wife & then killed himself in a murder-suicide happening overnight.
NEWS CONFERENCE HAPPENING NOW ON @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/zKO0G55MVv

— Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) April 16, 2026

The couple had been going through a divorce, and though legally separated they were still living in the family home in Annandale, Virginia. 

In a press conference, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Fairfax had recently been served with “paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night.”

At the Virginia Citizens Defense League’s Lobby Day in 2020, where tens of thousands of gun owners turned out in opposition to the semi-auto ban being pushed by Fairfax, then-Gov. Ralph Northam, and Democrat lawmakers, Fairfax engaged some of the gun owners on hand and spoke with a WAVY-TV reporter. 

I’m just trying to make the point that we can have discussions, we can be civil, uh, we can listen to each other. What people want us to do is to fight and to yell and scream and not find any common ground on anything. We can protect the Second Amendment and our Second Amendment rights and also protect our communities and our families.

I wish Fairfax had been able to do that, but I guess that was just a bit of performative political theater from the then-Lt. Governor. 

According to the New York Post, Cerina Fairfax served her husband with divorce papers in July, 2025, about six years after Fairfax was accused of sexual assaults that had allegedly taken place in 2000 and 2004. 

He maintained the sexual encounters were both consensual and refused to resign.

Fairfax then launched a failed bid for governor in 2021.

He ultimately left his post in 2022 when he was ousted by Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.

Fairfax had been out of the headlines since his gubernatorial campaign imploded in 2021, when he received less than 4% of the vote in the Democratic primary. 

Fairfax’s actions are simply unfathomable to me, and my heart aches for the two children who have been orphaned as a result of his selfish cowardice. The irony of a staunch gun control advocate using a firearm to murder his wife and then take his own life isn’t lost on me, but Fairfax’s actions would be no less appalling and this incident would be no less tragic if he’d used another implement. 

Sickeningly, some gun control groups are already using this tragedy to demand even more (and unspecified) restrictions on gun owners. 

This is horrific.

A woman is shot and killed by a husband or male dating partner every 16 hours in the U.S.

We must do more to address easy access to gun, keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and protect women. https://t.co/iOjvqD7A1D

— Brady | United Against Gun Violence (@bradybuzz) April 16, 2026

Disgusting.

Fairfax wasn’t a great attorney general, but he had the opportunity to be a good father and a decent human being. Sadly, the biggest failure in his life wasn’t in the political arena, but in the family home. I’m sickened and disgusted by Fairfax’s actions, and I pray that his kids will be able to find comfort and solace in the arms of family and friends in the dark days ahead.