‘A perfect mom': Cerina Fairfax's sister opens up about Virginia tragedy
Six months after Dr. Cerina Fairfax, a Northern Virginia mom and dentist, was killed by her husband, former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, her sister spoke with the News4 I-Team about who she was and how their family lives with the tragedy.
Cerina Fairfax was in the process of divorcing her husband and starting the next chapter of her life, her sister said, when he shot her multiple times in the basement of their Annandale home in April. Police say the former rising star in Democratic politics then killed himself. Their two teenage children were home at the time.
“We could have never imagined it would end like this,” Arisce Wanzer said, speaking for the first time from her home in Australia.
Cerina Fairfax was a guiding light for her loved ones, including her two sisters.
“She was very important to all of us. She was very much set to be the matriarch of our family,” Wanzer said. “[…] If anyone needs help, they call Cerina. If anyone needs advice, they call Cerina. Cerina was there for everybody.”
Cerina was 49 when her husband, 47, killed her on April 16. Wanzer shared how she found out.
“My brother is the one who called me and told me, and he was on his way to the police station to pick up the kids, and we’ve all just been having a collective nervous breakdown for months,” she said. “I didn’t know it could go like this.”
Fairfax County police said there’s no doubt the former lieutenant governor was the shooter.
‘She was a perfect sister’
The couple met as students at Duke University and went on to build what seemed like a picture-perfect family. She became a successful and beloved dentist who ran her own practice.
“Her nickname was Bean because she always used it. She always used her bean. Like, she was so smart,” Wanzer said. “She was a fierce friend, a wonderful mother – a wonderful mother who did everything she could for her children, and she was a perfect sister.”
Justin Fairfax became an attorney and successfully ran to become Virginia’s first Black lieutenant governor, holding office from 2018 to 2022.
“We loved him. We only ever loved him,” Wanzer said.
In 2019, two women accused him of sexual assaults years earlier. He denied the allegations, which led to calls for his resignation. His political career crumbled, and he lost the Democratic primary for governor in 2021.
Justin Fairfax tried returning to practice law, but court documents say he was no longer earning a dependable income and that his wife was the breadwinner.
Cerina Fairfax told her family last year that they were going to divorce. Her sister said she still expected to see her brother-in-law at family parties, as other relatives had after divorce.
“Divorce is divorce, like, OK, people separate. They move on with their lives. Everything’s fine,” Wanzer said.
The family talked at least every Sunday.
“Sometimes I’d call her and see how she was doing, just to see how was doing. And she bought a Great Dane, she got a dog. And she already seemed like she was moving on and she was making her next moves, like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna think about doing this, I’m thinking about moving, selling the house,’” Wanzer recalled.
Virginia’s divorce waiting period
Under Virginia’s divorce laws, with a no-fault divorce, a couple with minor children must live separately and apart for one year before a divorce can be final. If a spouse can’t afford to live on their own, the couple may live under the same roof if they essentially stop living as a couple.
Justin Fairfax was allowed to remain in his family’s home, in a separate space from his wife.
Wanzer said the arrangement surprised her.
“For me, I was kind of weirded out, like, ‘Y’all have to live together?’” she said.
Cerina Fairfax feared if she left, she would risk custody of their children, her sister said.
“It just sounded messy, and it can’t end well,” she said. “A year?”
The I-Team asked Fairfax County family law attorney Stephanie Sauer what laws she would repeal in Virginia this legislative session, if she could wave a magic wand.
“I would get rid of the yearlong requirement for waiting,” she said. “I think 90 days is reasonable.”
Sauer said the 12-month separation period can make an already tense situation escalate.
“Studies show that divorce is one of the times where maybe domestic violence did not exist previously in your relationship, but the tensions that arise and occur during a separation, a divorce, cause that to happen more frequently,” she said.
Discussion in Virginia continues about whether to eliminate the one-year waiting period for couples with children before they divorce. It’s something Wanzer supports, and that has failed in past efforts.
Changes made to commonwealth law this summer let spouses file for divorce immediately after separating, without having to claim anyone was at fault. The change lets spouses begin the court process sooner but does not change the waiting period.
‘He wasn’t scary – he was dangerous’
A judge granted Cerina Fairfax custody of their children in March. Justin Fairfax was ordered to leave the home by the end of April. The court found he was unable to have healthy relationships with the children because of his self-isolation and alcohol use.
Cerina Fairfax was trying to parent their children, her sister said.
“It had gotten a little hostile in her house, and so she sequestered herself to the attic-ish room,” Wanzer said. “It got not so great, and so she was kind of running the house out of there, like, making sure the kids had what they needed.”
Cerina Fairfax did not fear her husband, her sister said.
“She was never afraid of him, and something I’ve said after the fact is that he wasn’t scary – he was dangerous. And that’s what a lot of women need to understand, is that just because they’re not scary doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous,” Wanzer said.
About 800 people die every year in murder-suicides across the U.S., Columbia University research found. About 89% of the time, the attacker uses a gun.
“Every statistic has shown that when you are with a person that you’re trying to leave, it gets hostile,” Wanzer said. “It will more than likely get hostile. And I hate that she’s part of that statistic.”
Fairfax County police said their investigation into the Fairfax case is complete but the final report from the medical examiner’s office is still pending.
The couple’s son and daughter, who are in high school, were home at the time of the shootings. Their teen son called 911. News4 asked how they’re doing.
“They’re not great, you know? Like they’re – do you know what I needed when I was 15 and 16? My mom. I needed my mom,” Wanzer said.
“We are trying our best and, trying to get them to where she wanted them, because she was just a perfect mom. She was a perfect mom,” she said.
Wanzer described what it’s been like to have people tell her that things will get better.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh, wait. It’ll get better.’ I’m like, ‘No. Where is she? If it was better, she’d be right here,” she said. “Or she’d be with her children. Or she’d be happy doing what she does.’”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
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