Patients and colleagues in the Virginia dental community are remembering Dr. Cerina Fairfax as a devoted mother, a caring dentist and the rock at the center of her family, after she was killed by her estranged husband, former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Virginia Rep. Jennifer McClellan knew Dr. Fairfax through her husband’s campaign and the time he spent in office as lieutenant governor and said her two teenaged children were “the people she cherished most.” Leaders in the state’s dental community praised her accomplishments and commitment to patients.

Court records show that former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax was facing a court-ordered deadline to move out of his family’s home before police say he killed his wife and then himself. Police say officers found the bodies of Fairfax and his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, at the home early Thursday in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Annandale. A Virginia judge in March told Justin Fairfax he had to move out by the end of April amid what police say was a messy divorce. Justin Fairfax was a rising star in the Democratic Party several years ago before his chances of becoming Virginia’s second Black governor were derailed by sexual assault allegations. He called the encounters consensual.