Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kills wife, self in their home: Police
Virginia Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) speaks during a news conference on June 4, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to take down a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) –Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife, Cerina, in their home before taking his own life, police said Thursday.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters that there was an “ongoing domestic dispute surrounding a complicated, messy divorce.”
Police responded to a domestic call at the couple’s Annandale, Virginia, home in January, Davis said, but no charges were filed from that incident. The couple were separated but still living together inside the house, according to Davis.
“Former Lt Gov Fairfax was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding that apparently led to this incident last night,” he said.
Davis said that the shooting took place around midnight and the couple’s two teenage children were inside the home.
Their son, the eldest child, called 911, according to Davis.
“[It’s] a traumatic event for those children to live through,” he said.
Fairfax served as the state’s lieutenant governor between 2018 and 2022.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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In this booking photo released by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Michael McKee is shown. (Franklin County Sheriff’s Office)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The surgeon accused of gunning down his ex-wife and her husband entered a not guilty plea at his first appearance in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.
Michael McKee faces four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary for allegedly shooting and killing his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, dentist Spencer Tepe, at their Columbus home on Dec. 30, according to police and prosecutors.
McKee, who was taken into custody in Illinois, was booked into the James A. Karnes Corrections Center in Franklin County, Ohio, on Tuesday.
McKee appeared via video at Friday’s brief hearing and did not speak.
His defense attorney, Diane Menashe, told the court, “We acknowledge receipt, waive reading, enter not guilty pleas to all counts.”
“We would also waive bond at this time,” she added.
McKee and Monique Tepe were married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, according to divorce records obtained by ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX. They did not have any children together, according to the records.
Spencer and Monique Tepe married in December 2020, according to their obituary. The Tepes are survived by their two young children, who were found safe inside their home after the Dec. 30 killings.
“We just want justice,” the Tepes’ brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, told ABC News.
“We want this person that took so much from, not just us as a family, but so many more people. And obviously the kids, especially. We want this person to pay for what they did,” he said.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin and Jason Volack contributed to this report.
In this booking photo released by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Michael McKee is shown. (Franklin County Sheriff’s Office)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The doctor who is accused of gunning down his ex-wife and her husband had allegedly told his ex “he could kill her at any time,” according to court documents.
McKee and Monique Tepe married in 2015 and divorced in 2017. According to court documents, Monique Tepe’s friends and family said Monique Tepe told them McKee “had been abusive, and had made numerous threats on her life during and after their marriage.”
One witness told detectives that Monique Tepe alleged McKee strangled her and “forced unwanted sex,” court documents said.
Another witness told detectives that “McKee had told Monique that he could kill her at any time and would find her and buy the house right next to her, that she will always be his wife,” documents said.
During the Dec. 30 homicides, McKee’s phone was left at his workplace — an Illinois hospital — and “showed no activity for approximately 17 hours,” according to court documents.
Police — who zeroed in on McKee after linking him to a car seen on surveillance video — said they also recovered video “of the same suspect” by the Tepes’ house weeks before the murders, on Dec. 6, according to court documents.
On Dec. 6, the Tepes were in Indiana at the Big Ten Championship game, and during that trip Monique Tepe allegedly told friends “she was upset about something involving her ex-husband,” according to court documents.
McKee is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary. His defense attorney, Diane Menashe, entered not guilty pleas to all counts on his behalf during a court appearance last week. Menashe declined to comment to ABC News on Tuesday about the new allegations revealed in the court documents, saying she doesn’t comment on pending matters.
In this June 25, 2018, file photo, an entrance to Fort Bliss is shown, in Fort Bliss, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE)
(El PASO, Texas) — The contract for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement tent facility in El Paso, Texas, is under review, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement.
Camp East Montana, a detention center on the grounds of Fort Bliss, was opened in August by the Trump administration. The facility has faced criticism from immigrant advocates following the deaths of three detainees and a current measles outbreak.
“ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “The contract for Camp East Montana was inherited from the Department of War. DHS undergoes rigorous audits and inspections of our facilities to ensure they are meeting our high standards.”
“DHS is reviewing this facility and contract,” Bis added. “No decisions have been made related to contract extension, termination, or award.”
Last year, Acquisition Logistics LLC, a Virginia-based company, was awarded $1.2 billion to build the 5,000 bed, short-term detention facility with an estimated date of completion of Sept. 30, 2027, according to a Department of Defense notice.
Acquisition Logistics did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
While DHS has not provided a reason for the review, a current measles outbreak has renewed calls from legal advocates who say detainees are not getting proper medical care.
DHS confirmed to ABC News that there are currently 14 active measles cases at the facility. In a statement, Bis claimed medical staff were quarantining all detainees that may have come into contact with those infected.
“This is the best healthcare than many aliens have received in their entire lives,” Bis claimed, contradicting repeated claims of medical neglect and abuse at the facility made by the ACLU in December and by attorneys with clients being detained there.
Crystal Sandoval, an accredited representative with Las Americas Advocacy Center, who attempted to meet with a potential client on Tuesday, says she was denied entry into the facility because of the outbreak. Sandoval says she was the first person who was granted access into the facility in August 2025 and has been sounding the alarm about what she calls widespread medical neglect.
“I’ve had people be like, ‘I want to be deported because I’m not getting my diabetic medication and if I continue like that, I’m going to have a diabetic coma,'” she told ABC News.
Lawmakers have also increasingly called on DHS to provide more transparency about who they’re contracting with it, and to shut down the facility.
“For months, we have sounded the alarm on the horrific conditions at this facility—from the tragic and preventable deaths of three individuals to the current measles outbreak that has put hundreds at risk,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., on Wednesday. “This $1.2 billion contract was awarded to a company with zero experience in detention management, and the results were as predictable as they were disastrous.”
