The 26-year-old daughter of a Jim Thorpe couple and her boyfriend died in a fiery two-vehicle crash last Sunday in Seattle, Wash.

Laura Beth Sheard, daughter of Eugene E. and Carol (Eckard) Sheard and a 2003 graduate of the Jim Thorpe Area High School, was pronounced dead at the scene, as was her boyfriend, Kristopher Martin, 33.Officials said a vehicle slammed into the rear of a car in which they were occupants, causing it to burst into flames.Sheard was a fifth-year student in the University of Washington's pharmacology program, according to faculty adviser, Dr. Ning Zheng. In a Seattle Times news article, Zheng said Sheard "was an extremely talented student ... almost ready to get her Ph.D. We're all really, really deeply in sorrow."The Jim Thorpe native 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.According to the newspaper, police identified Daniel R. Habeeb, 43, as the driver of a SUV that slammed into the back of the Sheard and Martin vehicle, a Hyundai sedan, driving it about 100 yards before it burst into flames.A witness, Chris Breaux, 26, of Seattle, told police Habeeb's Ford Explorer passed his vehicle on Lake City Way."We saw the Explorer flying by. He had to be going at least 70, 80 miles an hour. We heard this big boom and saw the car on fire," Breaux said.Breaux and his friend pulled over to help. By the time they got out of their car, the Explorer was empty. Breaux said the man who had been driving the SUV appeared to be hurt."He was on the ground. I thought he was dead," Breaux said. "We were about 15, 20 yards away. There was nothing we could do about the other car, it was engulfed in flames."Habeeb and two girls, ages 10 and 11, were transported to the hospital after the crash.Meanwhile, police later learned the accident was the second time in which Habeeb was involved in a fatal vehicle accident. In 2009, he was charged with vehicular homicide after a vehicle he was driving crashed into three vehicles, killing a 65-year-old woman.He was charged with vehicular homicide, but last year pleaded guilty to reduced charges of reckless driving and reckless endangerment. A one-year jail sentence resulting from the first crash was suspended last year as part of the plea. Habeeb was placed on probation.Seattle police said yesterday a warrant for Habeeb's arrest has been issued against him for violating the terms of his probation. He is expected to be committed to prison after being discharged from the hospital.Funeral information and Laura Sheard's obituary appear on Page 4 of today's TIMES NEWS.