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A Virginia Beach dentist was pronounced dead after being stabbed multiple times Saturday morning at a home in the Birdneck Point neighborhood, police said.
Police responded to a call at 8:54 am and found Abbey Horwitz, 68, with stab wounds in the 1300 block of Wren Place. He was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
Norah Horwitz, 36, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and stabbing in the commission of a felony. She is being held at Virginia Beach jail.
Police confirmed Abbey Horwitz is Norah Horwitz’s father. According to the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, she is on a suicide watch and is under direct observation.
Abbey Horwitz was from the Bronx and studied at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry in Richmond before moving to Virginia Beach, according to the biography on his dental practice The Art of Dentistry’s webpage. He was active in the local Jewish community and volunteered dental services in Israel, Romania, the former Soviet Union and Nicaragua.
The Horwitz man sits alone at the end of a small peninsula jutting into Linkhorn Bay. Golfers tee off between properties, and military jets roar overhead every few minutes.
Neighbors interviewed by The Pilot painted a picture of Horwitz as a man, a respected dentist, and a good neighbor whose demise was like that of a “Greek tragedy.”
A neighbor a few doors down, who asked to remain anonymous, said he didn’t know Abbey personally other than helping him with a few “neighborly things” here and there, but said he’d always remember how the man on Wren Place was the hub for generations of the Horwitz family. He’d often see them host large cookouts on their back patio, where children would play while the adults relaxed and conversed.
“What I will always remember is he was always having his whole family together, kind of like ‘The Waltons,'” the neighbor said of Abbey. “… He seemed like the consummate family guy.”
The neighbor said he’d met the other members of the Horwitz family but not Norah, and never had any reason to suspect anything was amiss.
“(The Horwitz family are) really nice, good people, just a very positive vibe,” the neighbor said. “I still can’t believe it.”
The Horwitzes’ neighbor across the street, who asked not to be named, was a dental patient of Abbey’s for five to 10 years. He said he’d often see Abbey walking his dogs, and said he’d always have a cigar going.
“Pretty good dude, solid guy, no issues. Family kind of took care of themselves. They’re good people it’s just really sad,” the neighbor said. “It’s shocking, I mean obviously this doesn’t happen… not like that.”
Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com
Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
A correction was made on June 7, 2023: Due to incorrect information provided to The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, an earlier version of this article quoted a neighbor who said Abbey Horwitz had grandchildren. Abbey Horwitz does not have grandchildren, according to family friends.
