RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Advocacy groups are urging Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to halt the execution of an inmate who killed two men during an escape in 2006.

Groups including Amnesty International delivered more than 30,000 petitions to McAuliffe on Thursday asking him to call off William Morva's July 6 execution.

Other groups involved in the petition effort include the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the American Bar Association.

Morva's lawyers say he's severely mentally ill and cannot distinguish between delusions and reality. They say his crimes were spawned by a belief that his life in jail was in danger.

Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Pettitt is urging McAuliffe to not intervene. She dismissed the claim that the mental health experts who examined the man for trial were wrong.