Submission by Dr. Glenn Mollette
According to media reports, former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax recently murdered his wife, Cerina. He then took his own life. He was only 47 years old. She was 48.
Justin Fairfax had been a rising star in the Democratic Party. He served as the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. He was one of the few African Americans elected to statewide office in Virginia. He was known for his hard work as a federal prosecutor and private attorney. He made history as the second African American elected statewide in Virginia.
Cerina was a dentist. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University. She also graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from VCU Medical College of Virginia. She and Justin had two children, a son and a daughter.
According to reports, the couple was embroiled in a messy divorce and ongoing conflict. Their children were home but not harmed, and their son called 911.
Such a tragedy makes us all sad. We wonder how two successful people could have such a horrific ending. None of us know the extent of the toxicity that invaded the lives of these two individuals. Who knows for sure what brought about such an ending?
There is always a better way than hurting someone. Emotional pain is never made better by physical violence. Depression, mental illness, life failure, and career setbacks can add to anyone’s pain, but they are never improved by doing something harmful. The problem is only made worse. Two children are now without parents because their father’s apparent mental breakdown turned tragic.
Every human being has the potential to experience problems, struggles, sin, and mistakes of all kinds. If you live long enough and do anything at all, you will face some kind of upheaval, pain, or failure. The only way to avoid this is to never move—and then you won’t have much of a life. Even a walk across the yard carries the potential of stumbling and falling.
Accepting that we are human challenges us to work hard at managing things that can make us angry. Uncontrolled anger is dangerous anywhere and at any time. Add alcohol to it, and it can become a raging inferno that harms both you and others. You don’t need that, and neither does anyone else.
If Fairfax’s wife wanted a divorce, then so be it—let it be. If the issues cannot be worked out, people need to resolve to go their separate ways in a civil manner. Fighting to the bitter end leads to outcomes that often harm the innocent. Too often, the innocent are left behind to spend the rest of their lives trying to make sense of it all.
You don’t need the stress or the mess. Be at peace with yourself and others.
Sources: NBC News, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times
Feature photo: Pbritti, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
