A new and volatile force is emerging from Chicago’s West Side, where the brutal realities of street life and the viral nature of drill music are colliding with deadly consequences. Dayvon “VonOff1700” Meeks, a young rapper affiliated with the notorious Toss Gang, is now at the center of escalating violence and intense police scrutiny, his name linked to a brazen public assassination.
His upbringing on the harsh streets of Chicago’s West Side was a brutal primer for his current notoriety. Raised in a single-parent household by a mother working a teacher’s salary, VonOff1700 describes a childhood marked by an absent father and exposure to relentless trauma. By age 10, he was following his older brother into street life, and a viral photo shows him posing with a firearm at just 11 or 12 years old.
A pivotal loss came at age eight when his uncle, Javon “Shorty Black,” was shot and killed right outside his grandmother’s home. VonOff1700 witnessed the aftermath firsthand, a trauma he internalized without outlet. “There was no therapy,” he recounted, describing a childhood where playing basketball one minute could be shattered by violence the next.
In a bid to escape, his mother moved the family to Atlanta during his freshman year of high school. The isolation worsened his depression. While there, he learned his close friend Anton had been killed back in Chicago in a case of mistaken identity linked to a clothing brand hoodie. This loss propelled him toward music upon his return to Chicago as a raw channel for his pain.
Yet the streets maintained their pull. He admits to stealing and flipping cars for cash and dropped out of school during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was around this time that he formally aligned with the Toss Gang, a set with roots in the Four Corner Hustlers, known as one of the West Side’s most feared factions. Their territory spans the 1400 to 1700 blocks of North Avenue.
The gang’s conflicts are sprawling and lethal. VonOff1700 claims the Toss Gang is effectively “at war with the whole West Side” due to shifting alliances. This war has claimed young lives, including 19-year-old Toss Gang affiliate Jeron “Mook Money” Smith, who was shot multiple times and later died after being dropped off at a hospital.
However, the incident that catapulted VonOff1700 into infamy occurred on July 26, 2023. Anton Benoit, 31, was ambushed in a shocking broad-daylight attack at a Shell gas station in the Chatham area. Surveillance footage shows three masked individuals leaping from a black Dodge Durango and firing over 20 rounds before running over Benoit and fleeing.
The victim died from his injuries. In the aftermath, online investigators noticed disturbing parallels. VonOff1700 posted a photo on social media wearing an outfit nearly identical to one shooter’s: the same ski mask, black hoodie, ripped jeans, and distinctive glasses. The vehicle used, a black Dodge Durango, matched the type he admitted to frequently stealing in interviews.
During a now-notorious appearance on the “No Jumper” podcast, VonOff1700 made a series of cryptic and self-incriminating statements. When asked if his use of “we” implied personal involvement in violence against rivals, he was evasive. “We are ops for… If an interview is going to get me locked up, let me know now,” he challenged the host.
He further taunted, questioning what would happen if he claimed a killing just as a news report emerged. His defiant rhetoric, constant targeting of rivals in lyrics, and alleged gang activity have drawn direct comparisons to the late King Von, another Chicago rapper known for a similarly ruthless reputation tied to street violence.
Chicago Police Department sources confirm the gas station homicide remains an active investigation. While no arrests have been publicly announced, detectives are acutely aware of the social media chatter and interview statements linking VonOff1700 to the crime. The department warns that such public bravado can both complicate prosecutions and inflame street tensions.
Community advocates on the West Side express despair, noting the cyclical nature of trauma and violence exemplified by VonOff1700’s own story. They argue his path from a traumatized child to an alleged perpetrator highlights systemic failures in providing youth with mental health resources and viable economic alternatives.
The rise of VonOff1700 represents a dangerous new chapter in Chicago’s long struggle with gang violence, where digital audacity amplifies real-world terror. As the police investigation continues and his music gathers streams, a critical question remains: will this story end in another tragedy, or will intervention break the cycle that created it? The city waits, watching the next post, the next track, the next headline.