A 43-year-old man whose SUV slammed into the back of a sedan stopped at a red light on Lake City Way on Sunday, killing a couple, was charged in 2009 with vehicular homicide.

Daniel Ray Habeeb, the driver of the SUV, was listed in satisfactory condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center early Tuesday.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's office said that office was reviewing the Sunday accident to weigh whether a plea agreement stemming from the 2009 vehicular-homicide charge should be revoked. Such a revocation could send Habeeb to jail for one year.

Habeeb had two girls, ages 10 and 11, in the vehicle with him when he struck Laura Sheard and Kristopher Martin's Hyundai on Lake City Way Northeast, authorities said. The Hyundai and Ford Explorer traveled about 100 yards before the Hyundai burst into flames at about 3:40 p.m.

Sheard and Martin died at the scene.

Chris Breaux, 26, of Seattle, said he and a friend were going out to grab lunch at Tubs Gourmet Subs when they were passed on Lake City Way by the southbound Ford Explorer.

"We saw the Explorer flying by. He had to be going at least 70, 80 miles an hour," said Breaux. "We heard this big boom and saw the car on fire."

Breaux and his friend pulled over to help. By the time they got out of their car, the Explorer was empty. Breaux said that the man who had been driving the SUV appeared to be hurt.

"He was on the ground. I thought he was dead. We were about 15, 20 yards away. There was nothing we could do about the other car, it was engulfed in flames."

Jenny Richards, 41, of Seattle, said she was driving north on Lake City Way when she came upon the Hyundai on fire and bystanders "pulling the kids and the father out of the SUV." She said that the Explorer driver "was convulsing" on the ground; witnesses held his head still and covered him with blankets.

A police source close to the investigation said that the man was having some type of medical episode, possibly a seizure, when officers arrived on scene.

Richards said she turned her attention to the two girls rescued from the SUV; she said the younger girl told people that the man on the ground was her father. She said that their family dog ran off after being pulled from the SUV.

The 10-year-old girl from Habeeb's vehicle has been treated and released, and the 11-year-old remains hospitalized in satisfactory condition, a Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman said.

Previous deadly crash

On the afternoon of Jan. 30, 2009, Habeeb was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic on 15th Avenue West, near Interbay, when he crashed into three vehicles. Susan Peek, 65, was killed. When confronted by a witness after the crash, Habeeb said, "I was hurrying to get home ... was going home to my wife and kids," according to charging documents.

Moments before that accident, Habeeb had been traveling nearly 80 miles per hour, swerving and using all three lanes and the center lane to get where he wanted to go, King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim wrote in charging documents.

When Habeeb tried to maneuver around a utility truck, his car went up on two wheels and struck Peek's vehicle. Peek's friend, who was in the car with her, said that right before the collision Peek said, "Do you see that guy?"

Habeeb was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the 2009 crash, prosecutors said.

"His driving was extraordinarily frightening during this incident," Freedheim wrote in charging documents.

A suspended sentence

Prosecutors charged Habeeb with vehicular homicide and hit and run on June 23, 2009. He pleaded guilty the following summer to reduced charges of reckless driving and reckless endangerment.

In the plea agreement, Habeeb said that he was pleading guilty "to take advantage of the prosecution's offer."

Habeeb's one-year jail sentence was suspended, as long as he attended mental-health treatment and agreed not to use or possess illegal drugs or alcohol. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims — including paying for Peek's funeral expenses, according to court filings.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Habeeb was ordered to stay out of trouble for two years.

Habeeb has prior convictions from the early 1990s for drunken driving and for possessing an open container of liquor in public, according to court filings.

Habeeb was also required to drive with a valid license. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Licensing on Tuesday said that Habeeb's driver's license is valid.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Mark Larson said that in the 2009 case, there were concerns regarding Habeeb's mental competency.

"It became very clear to us that we were not in a position to disprove the evidence that he was psychotic at the time of the collision," Larson said. "We were really hamstrung."

Larson said the prosecutor's office is reviewing Sunday's accident for potential revocation of the plea agreement. Revocation would mean that Habeeb would be required to serve the one-year jail sentence.

While prosecutors say they are moving quickly on trying to find out whether Habeeb should be incarcerated for allegedly violating the terms of the plea agreement, Seattle police say the investigation into the Lake City Way accident might take months.

The crash victims

Sheard, 26, was in her fifth year of study at the UW's pharmacology program, said her faculty adviser, Dr. Ning Zheng.

"She was an extremely talented student ... almost ready to get her Ph.D.," Zheng said. "We're all really, really deeply in sorrow."

Sheard showed great promise and had already been lead author for a research paper in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, Zheng said. Her research focused on plant hormones.

She also received a fellowship in August from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and that funded her postgraduate work.

"She was hoping to put her research to ways to help feed the world," said Diane Schulstad, human-resources manager for the pharmacology department.

Sheard stood out for her vibrant personality. She loved dancing and made cupcakes with beautiful designs on them, Schulstad said.

Martin, 33, from Wisconsin, played in a local band called Touch My Hand for Tenderness. He was a video-production specialist at OnlineShoes, a Seattle firm where he had worked for nearly four years.

"It's been really devastating," said Peter Ceccarelli, human-resources generalist for the company. He said Martin helped the company launch video on its website.

"He really put us on the map that way," Ceccarelli said.

Candace Adamo, a good friend of Sheard's who graduated with a doctorate earlier this year and now lives in Atlanta, said of the couple: "They were so close and always together. They seemed like they were one of those couples who would be together forever."

Staff reporter Jeff Hodson and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @SeattleSullivan.