Bus driver found not guilty in 2023 crash that killed Mississauga woman

A transit bus driver charged in a 2023 chain-reaction crash in Mississauga’s north end that killed a woman as she drove to work has been found not guilty of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

In delivering his decision on Friday morning in Brampton, Superior Court Justice David Harris said there’s reasonable doubt that Baljeet Dhaliwal was responsible for the June 8, 2023 multi-vehicle collision in which Sharron Williams, 50, of Mississauga, was killed while she waited in traffic at a red light.

Dhaliwal, of Brampton, was behind the wheel of the MiWay bus that Thursday morning when it slammed into the back of Williams’ stopped car at a busy intersection in Malton.

The speed of the transit bus at the point of impact was 59 km/h and “video shows passengers being tossed around (inside the bus) like rag dolls,” court heard.

Friday’s ruling was preceded by two weeks of testimony at the judge-alone trial in Brampton court back in April.

Justice Harris said in his decision that while the Crown’s case consisted of several strengths, in the end there were “reliability concerns” surrounding key evidence presented at trial and the possibility the brakes on the MiWay bus failed couldn’t be ruled out.

The judge further noted “taking all of the evidence together, the mystery of what caused this accident has not been solved.”

What is known, Justice Harris said, is that the “impact was enormous” and it caused a “lengthy and devastating chain reaction.”

Sharron Williams, 50, of Mississauga, was killed on June 8, 2023 after a MiWay bus struck the car she was driving.

Described at the time as a “shining star,” a mentor and a woman with a big heart, Williams was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after being involved in the deadly eight-vehicle collision that unfolded in an instant just before 9:30 a.m. as she headed to work on the early June morning.

The crash was captured on another vehicle’s dashcam video that was widely circulated online and showed the MiWay bus plowing into the back of the Mississauga woman’s car as she was stopped in traffic on Derry Road, at Rexwood Road. Vehicles were stopped for a red light.

Williams’ car, in which she was the lone occupant, was then violently pushed into other vehicles ahead of hers. Several other people were injured, but survived.

As fate would have it, Williams’ routine had changed somewhat that morning as she decided to stop at a Tim Hortons along Derry Road shortly after leaving her Malton home.

Williams, whose LinkedIn profile showed she worked as a manager at the Agincourt Community Services Association, was reportedly about to become a grandmother for the first time that summer.

In addition to her work in the community, particularly with children, Williams was also known to prioritize family and would do anything for family members.

Two photos above show the aftermath of the June 8, 2023 eight-vehicle chain reaction crash on Derry Road.