The truck driver accused of causing a fatal 2022 pileup on Montreal’s South Shore has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
Baljeet Singh, 29, appeared at the Longueuil, Que., courthouse Wednesday via videoconference from a detention centre.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death and three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
The charges stem from a collision on Highway 30 near the Saint-Hubert borough of Longueuil on the night of July 22, 2022.
Evidence shows that Singh was on his cellphone playing an online game at the time of the collision.
Singh’s semi-trailer failed to slow down as it approached a construction zone, slamming into several vehicles, according to witnesses.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) confirmed that seven vehicles were struck in the pileup.
Nancy Lefrançois, 42, and her 11-year-old son, Loïc, were killed, while 10 others were injured.
Following the crash, Singh was treated briefly at a hospital for nervous shock but fell off the grid the next day.
Authorities said he fled to Toronto before leaving for India and California.
An international arrest warrant was issued in July 2023, and Singh was arrested by U.S. federal agents in California on Aug. 21, 2025.
He was formally charged in September 2025 with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
According to the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, the maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is life imprisonment.
Singh is expected back in court on June 4 for sentencing.