April 16, 2026 • 11 mins
This is a breaking story. Police just confirmed that former lieutenant governor of Virginia Justin Fairfax and his wife were found dead at their home overnight. Police say it was a murder-suicide and that the couple's two teenage kids were at home dring the incident. One of them called 9-1-1. Police say the couple was going through a "messy" divorce. Fairfax was a rising star in politics before accusations from two women changed his fate.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, April sixteenth, and a
breaking story this morning, just getting word from police in
Virginia that that state's former lieutenant governor has shot and
killed his wife. Then he turned the gun on himself
and it was their teenage son who had to call
(00:23):
nine one one, And with that, welcome to this episode
of Amy and TJA. Breaking news episode of Amy and TJ.
Robes is sitting out on this one, but still wanted
to hop on and give you this update on a
story with some really really shocking details, and right now
the state of Virginia is in shock. A prominent politician
in that state who looked to even play possibly in
(00:45):
national politics at one point. According to police justin Fairfax,
the former lieutenant governor shot and killed his wife, Serena
Fairfax at their home in Annandale over night. They say,
as this happened, their kids were in the house and
it was one of their teen kids who had to
(01:07):
call nine to one one to report what happened. According
to the authorities, this did happen sometime after midnight or
around midnight last evening. Now, justin Fairfax, you might necessarily
not necessarily recognize that name even if you saw his picture,
you might not recognize the face. But there are reasons
why you will remember him as connected to Virginia politics.
(01:30):
I'll explain that in a short in just a moment.
But he was only forty seven years old, and he
served as lieutenant governor from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two.
He did run for governor as well, but didn't get
much traction in the gubernatorial race, but he did serve
for four years as the lieutenant governor. So what happened now,
according to authorities, police just a little bit ago didn't
(01:53):
hold a press conference where we've got the details. But
according to authorities, this did have something to do with
a domestic dispute of some kind between two people who
are going through what they said, quote was a complicated
or messy divorce. This divorce had been going on this year.
They say that Fairfax had only recently been served paperwork
(02:15):
that told him when he was going to have to
appear in court next Now, the police offered up that
information as maybe something being a triggering mechanism for this
whole incident. But the divorce had been going on even
though they're getting divorced. According to authorities, the two were
separated but still living together. You can certainly imagine how
(02:36):
that could lead to explosive moments, but still nothing necessarily
like we're talking about here. The police also wanted to
offer give some insight into this couple's relationship, and they
said it was just in January of this year that
Fairfax actually called police on his wife saying he had
been assaulted. Now add to that is that he would
(03:00):
never charged with anything, and police concluded an assault didn't
take place. And the reason they knew this is because
they say at some point his wife felt uncomfortable or wanted,
as a backup or insurance policy, she actually put cameras
up around their house and because of that, police were
(03:21):
able to go back, look at the footage, look at
the video and knew that it didn't happen the way
that Justin Fairfax had said it happened, and he was
never charged with assaulting his wife because according to authorities,
it never happened. That is what they told to just
give some insight into this relationship. But the incident itself,
(03:41):
police didn't give a lot of details of what it
might have led up to it last evening, but they
did get that call somewhere around midnight. According to authorities,
she was shot several times in the basement. Serena Fairfax
was shot several times in the basement at this point,
according to authorities, justin Fairfax, and went upstairs to the
main bedroom, used that same gun, turned it on himself
(04:04):
and killed himself. Now we don't know what was happening
necessarily with the kids in the house at the time
when all this was going on, and it was late,
so not sure what the kids might have been aware
of ahead of time. But afterwards, one of the kids,
the older one, according to the police, had to call
nine one to report what was going on. Now, according
to CBS, their sources are telling them that if the
(04:29):
scene was such a mess that the kid thought that
his mom had been stabbed and wasn't sure what was
going on when he had called nine one one. But
police got there and of course discovered she had been shot,
found shell casings, and of course found the dad upstairs
also with a self inflicted gunshot wound. Now, justin Fairfax,
(04:50):
according to police, at this at least at this juncture,
this investigation is still going on, but there's nothing they
released that talked about a violent passed, at least as
it relates to Justin Fairfax inflicting any violence upon his wife.
They didn't speak on that at all today, but there
was no suggestion of that. What was the suggestion is
(05:13):
that this was a couple who was going through it
and had been going through it for quite some time,
and it all came to a head when you have
a situation where a husband and a wife are still
stuck together. I'm living under the same roof. You got kids,
and you're going through a divorce, which is and can
be just awful and emotional and angry. But something happened
(05:36):
in that house last night. But again police were the
ones who made the suggestion that it was possibly triggered
when he Fairfax did receive paperwork letting him know when
he was supposed to be in court next for his
divorce proceedings. Now I mentioned a moment ago Fairfax. There's
a reason he became kind of got on the national
(05:58):
radar several years ago. Now, he served under Democratic governor
Northam is the name. You might not remember him either,
but Northumb He served under him again twenty eighteen to
twenty twenty two. But it was Northam that got into
a little bit of trouble. Now you might not remember
(06:19):
this story, but it became a big national whoop to
do because the Democratic governor at the time when Fairfax
was the lieutenant governor, Northam, was there and there was
a controversy surrounding him in which some photos surfaced and
he had to admit that at some point previously he
(06:40):
had dressed up in blackface. This might start to sound
a little familiar, but yes, he had dressed up in blackface.
So this is when Fairfax starts to rise in the
political ranks, and he starts getting talked about a little
more because all this is going on, If mister Northman
(07:01):
is going to have to step down, then I guess
mister Fairfax, being the lieutenant governor at the time, the
Democrats thought they had somebody to step up to step in. Also,
he's black. Fairfax is black. He was a guy who's
going to be stepping in. Virginia is a very important
state house, a very important governor's mansion there right outside
(07:22):
d C. So this was a big deal, a big
deal that he now was possibly going to get handed
the keys there in Virginia. And yes, he was considered
a rising star However, there was a reason that his
star did not keep rising in that moment. Stay here,
(07:43):
we'll explain the accusations from two women that possibly ended
his political career. Stay here all right for we continue
here on Amy and TJ. Breaking story this morning. The
(08:05):
former lieutenant governor of the state of Virginia is dead.
Police say, justin Fairfax killed himself, and before he did,
he shot and killed his wife, who the two of
them had been going through a divorce. Police say that
he was recently handed papers, serve papers that let him
know when he was going to have to show up
(08:26):
in court again for divorce proceedings, and maybe that was
something that triggered this whole event. But right now, a
lot of questions about exactly what happened. Again, you might
start to sound a little familiar, might not know the
name off the top of your head, might now know
the face. But there was a controversy there in Virginia
and why he rose to prominence, and he was talked
about potentially as a national leader. He's lieutenant governor at
(08:49):
the time. This was back twenty nineteen when the governor
at the time, the Democrat Governor Northam, got caught up
in a controversy. In old yearbook photo showed up and
it showed that Northam was possibly in blackface. So now
folks there started saying, well, Northm's got to resign. This
was a big controversy. So they've got Fairfax waiting in
(09:12):
the wings, the lieutenant governor, the young bright star right
of the Democratic Party. They're in Virginia. Well, when all
this was going on, two women came forward and accused
fair Facts of sexual assault. One of them accused him
of sexual assault at Duke University back in two thousand
and another said he sexually assaulted her in two thousand
(09:34):
and four at the Democratic National Convention. Now he denied
all of this. Obviously, he never went to jail, and
nothing was corroborated to the point that it rose to
the level that he faced trial. But this was so
ugly publicly. So now you have a governor who's in controversy.
(09:56):
Your backup is now your lieutenant governor, who has his
own controversy about sexual assault. And then after that, the
next person in line also had an issue of a
blackface controversy. So you got the governor, the next in line,
and the next in line all sitting in controversy there
in Virginia. So instead of starting, we can't dump this
(10:18):
guy because then we'll have the next guy step up,
we have to dump him too, and then if we
have to dump him, we might have to dump the
third guy that we end up in the office. So
all of this was going on with Justin Fairfax at
the time, and that really slowed his momentum to where
he was about to ascend to the governor's mansion possibly
and instead he gets caught up into controversy and that
(10:39):
kind of it just kind of ended things for him.
He did end up running for governor, but barely got
a single digit support. So that's been it, and he's
been out of office there since twenty twenty two. And
now we're hearing his name again in headlines for the
most horrific of reasons. Again. The former Lieutenant governor of Virginia,
(10:59):
Justin Fairfax dead after shooting and killing himself, according to police,
and before doing so, he shot his wife several times,
killing her. All this happening when their kids were in
the house, and it was in fact their teenage son
who had to call nine to one one. A lot
more details to be heard on this case. But wanted
(11:22):
to hop on. This is a breaking story, this is
happening now, so I wanted to get that update in
for you. Will still have the regular morning run posted
here on the feed in short order. That will be
me and my dear Amy robot before now, we appreciate
you spending some time with us. I'm tj on behalf
of my dear ROBOQ. Will talk soon
Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, April sixteenth, and a
breaking story this morning, just getting word from police in
Virginia that that state's former lieutenant governor has shot and
killed his wife. Then he turned the gun on himself
and it was their teenage son who had to call
(00:23):
nine one one, And with that, welcome to this episode
of Amy and TJA. Breaking news episode of Amy and TJ.
Robes is sitting out on this one, but still wanted
to hop on and give you this update on a
story with some really really shocking details, and right now
the state of Virginia is in shock. A prominent politician
in that state who looked to even play possibly in
(00:45):
national politics at one point. According to police justin Fairfax,
the former lieutenant governor shot and killed his wife, Serena
Fairfax at their home in Annandale over night. They say,
as this happened, their kids were in the house and
it was one of their teen kids who had to
(01:07):
call nine to one one to report what happened. According
to the authorities, this did happen sometime after midnight or
around midnight last evening. Now, justin Fairfax, you might necessarily
not necessarily recognize that name even if you saw his picture,
you might not recognize the face. But there are reasons
why you will remember him as connected to Virginia politics.
(01:30):
I'll explain that in a short in just a moment.
But he was only forty seven years old, and he
served as lieutenant governor from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two.
He did run for governor as well, but didn't get
much traction in the gubernatorial race, but he did serve
for four years as the lieutenant governor. So what happened now,
according to authorities, police just a little bit ago didn't
(01:53):
hold a press conference where we've got the details. But
according to authorities, this did have something to do with
a domestic dispute of some kind between two people who
are going through what they said, quote was a complicated
or messy divorce. This divorce had been going on this year.
They say that Fairfax had only recently been served paperwork
(02:15):
that told him when he was going to have to
appear in court next Now, the police offered up that
information as maybe something being a triggering mechanism for this
whole incident. But the divorce had been going on even
though they're getting divorced. According to authorities, the two were
separated but still living together. You can certainly imagine how
(02:36):
that could lead to explosive moments, but still nothing necessarily
like we're talking about here. The police also wanted to
offer give some insight into this couple's relationship, and they
said it was just in January of this year that
Fairfax actually called police on his wife saying he had
been assaulted. Now add to that is that he would
(03:00):
never charged with anything, and police concluded an assault didn't
take place. And the reason they knew this is because
they say at some point his wife felt uncomfortable or wanted,
as a backup or insurance policy, she actually put cameras
up around their house and because of that, police were
(03:21):
able to go back, look at the footage, look at
the video and knew that it didn't happen the way
that Justin Fairfax had said it happened, and he was
never charged with assaulting his wife because according to authorities,
it never happened. That is what they told to just
give some insight into this relationship. But the incident itself,
(03:41):
police didn't give a lot of details of what it
might have led up to it last evening, but they
did get that call somewhere around midnight. According to authorities,
she was shot several times in the basement. Serena Fairfax
was shot several times in the basement at this point,
according to authorities, justin Fairfax, and went upstairs to the
main bedroom, used that same gun, turned it on himself
(04:04):
and killed himself. Now we don't know what was happening
necessarily with the kids in the house at the time
when all this was going on, and it was late,
so not sure what the kids might have been aware
of ahead of time. But afterwards, one of the kids,
the older one, according to the police, had to call
nine one to report what was going on. Now, according
to CBS, their sources are telling them that if the
(04:29):
scene was such a mess that the kid thought that
his mom had been stabbed and wasn't sure what was
going on when he had called nine one one. But
police got there and of course discovered she had been shot,
found shell casings, and of course found the dad upstairs
also with a self inflicted gunshot wound. Now, justin Fairfax,
(04:50):
according to police, at this at least at this juncture,
this investigation is still going on, but there's nothing they
released that talked about a violent passed, at least as
it relates to Justin Fairfax inflicting any violence upon his wife.
They didn't speak on that at all today, but there
was no suggestion of that. What was the suggestion is
(05:13):
that this was a couple who was going through it
and had been going through it for quite some time,
and it all came to a head when you have
a situation where a husband and a wife are still
stuck together. I'm living under the same roof. You got kids,
and you're going through a divorce, which is and can
be just awful and emotional and angry. But something happened
(05:36):
in that house last night. But again police were the
ones who made the suggestion that it was possibly triggered
when he Fairfax did receive paperwork letting him know when
he was supposed to be in court next for his
divorce proceedings. Now I mentioned a moment ago Fairfax. There's
a reason he became kind of got on the national
(05:58):
radar several years ago. Now, he served under Democratic governor
Northam is the name. You might not remember him either,
but Northumb He served under him again twenty eighteen to
twenty twenty two. But it was Northam that got into
a little bit of trouble. Now you might not remember
(06:19):
this story, but it became a big national whoop to
do because the Democratic governor at the time when Fairfax
was the lieutenant governor, Northam, was there and there was
a controversy surrounding him in which some photos surfaced and
he had to admit that at some point previously he
(06:40):
had dressed up in blackface. This might start to sound
a little familiar, but yes, he had dressed up in blackface.
So this is when Fairfax starts to rise in the
political ranks, and he starts getting talked about a little
more because all this is going on, If mister Northman
(07:01):
is going to have to step down, then I guess
mister Fairfax, being the lieutenant governor at the time, the
Democrats thought they had somebody to step up to step in. Also,
he's black. Fairfax is black. He was a guy who's
going to be stepping in. Virginia is a very important
state house, a very important governor's mansion there right outside
(07:22):
d C. So this was a big deal, a big
deal that he now was possibly going to get handed
the keys there in Virginia. And yes, he was considered
a rising star However, there was a reason that his
star did not keep rising in that moment. Stay here,
(07:43):
we'll explain the accusations from two women that possibly ended
his political career. Stay here all right for we continue
here on Amy and TJ. Breaking story this morning. The
(08:05):
former lieutenant governor of the state of Virginia is dead.
Police say, justin Fairfax killed himself, and before he did,
he shot and killed his wife, who the two of
them had been going through a divorce. Police say that
he was recently handed papers, serve papers that let him
know when he was going to have to show up
(08:26):
in court again for divorce proceedings, and maybe that was
something that triggered this whole event. But right now, a
lot of questions about exactly what happened. Again, you might
start to sound a little familiar, might not know the
name off the top of your head, might now know
the face. But there was a controversy there in Virginia
and why he rose to prominence, and he was talked
about potentially as a national leader. He's lieutenant governor at
(08:49):
the time. This was back twenty nineteen when the governor
at the time, the Democrat Governor Northam, got caught up
in a controversy. In old yearbook photo showed up and
it showed that Northam was possibly in blackface. So now
folks there started saying, well, Northm's got to resign. This
was a big controversy. So they've got Fairfax waiting in
(09:12):
the wings, the lieutenant governor, the young bright star right
of the Democratic Party. They're in Virginia. Well, when all
this was going on, two women came forward and accused
fair Facts of sexual assault. One of them accused him
of sexual assault at Duke University back in two thousand
and another said he sexually assaulted her in two thousand
(09:34):
and four at the Democratic National Convention. Now he denied
all of this. Obviously, he never went to jail, and
nothing was corroborated to the point that it rose to
the level that he faced trial. But this was so
ugly publicly. So now you have a governor who's in controversy.
(09:56):
Your backup is now your lieutenant governor, who has his
own controversy about sexual assault. And then after that, the
next person in line also had an issue of a
blackface controversy. So you got the governor, the next in line,
and the next in line all sitting in controversy there
in Virginia. So instead of starting, we can't dump this
(10:18):
guy because then we'll have the next guy step up,
we have to dump him too, and then if we
have to dump him, we might have to dump the
third guy that we end up in the office. So
all of this was going on with Justin Fairfax at
the time, and that really slowed his momentum to where
he was about to ascend to the governor's mansion possibly
and instead he gets caught up into controversy and that
(10:39):
kind of it just kind of ended things for him.
He did end up running for governor, but barely got
a single digit support. So that's been it, and he's
been out of office there since twenty twenty two. And
now we're hearing his name again in headlines for the
most horrific of reasons. Again. The former Lieutenant governor of Virginia,
(10:59):
Justin Fairfax dead after shooting and killing himself, according to police,
and before doing so, he shot his wife several times,
killing her. All this happening when their kids were in
the house, and it was in fact their teenage son
who had to call nine to one one. A lot
more details to be heard on this case. But wanted
(11:22):
to hop on. This is a breaking story, this is
happening now, so I wanted to get that update in
for you. Will still have the regular morning run posted
here on the feed in short order. That will be
me and my dear Amy robot before now, we appreciate
you spending some time with us. I'm tj on behalf
of my dear ROBOQ. Will talk soon
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