KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — A habitual felon has pleaded guilty to the death of a woman he was romantically involved with. The Forsyth County District Attorney's Office says that one Oct. 2, Derrick Jose Ward, 35, pleaded guilty to a count of voluntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Paula Kay Self, 55, in 2022. He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of assault by strangulation from a different 2022 incident as part of this plea deal. According to the DA's office, just before 5 a.m. on Nov. 7, 2022, law enforcement arrived on Weatherton Drive in Kernersville about a shooting, where they found Self dead in the home. An additional male victim was located at a neighbor's and taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound. Man arrested, charged after 1 killed, another shot in Kernersville, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office says Investigators say Self and Ward were in a romantic relationship at the time. Video evidence showed him leaving the home after an argument and then returning later that morning, when the other victim says Ward killed Self and shot him. He had been on pretrial release for assault by strangulation and assault on a female with a different victim in March 2022 when he was arrested and charged with murder in the death of Self. The judge consolidated the offenses, sentencing the defendant to 120 months minimum to 156 months maximum. "Paula Self is survived by her mother, father, two brothers, and multiple other family members who were present in court," the DA's office says.