The parents of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes are pleading to save their son's life.

On Friday, the parents released a statement asking for his life to be spared from execution on the grounds that he suffers from mental illness.

"He is a human being gripped by a severe mental illness," reads the letter, according to the Associated Press via Yahoo! News. "We have always loved him, and we do not want him to be executed."

His parents, who live in California, added they rather avoid a traumatic trial and strike a deal that calls for a guilty plea in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

"If that happened, our son would be in prison the rest of his life, but no one would have to relive those horrible events at a trial the media has permission to televise," the parents wrote.

They also said that the best option would be sending their son to a mental institution if he is found not guilty by reason of insanity.

However, victims of the mass shooting disagree with Holmes' parents.

"He's not mentally ill," said Melisa Cowden, whose ex-husband Gordon Cowden was killed in the shooting, according to the Associated Press via CBS News. She also called the statement comical and expressed her outrage that Holmes' parents have not apologized for the incident.

Earlier this month, defense lawyers asked a Colorado judge to delay the trial yet again.

Attorneys representing Holmes, who is accused of fatally killing 12 movie-goers at an Aurora theater showing the "Dark Knight" on July 20, 2012, say they need more time to prepare due to medical emergencies involving two members of their team.

Although the trial has already been postponed five times, the defense said at a hearing that an attorney and an investigator are suffering from medical problems, which has complicated their review of the evidence.

"We're trying to jam all this work into a small amount of time at the end of this proceeding that has lasted more than two years," defense attorney Daniel King told Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr., according to the Washington Post.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 20, 2015.