Valdosta , Georgia ( CNN ) -- The family of a teen found dead in a rolled-up wrestling mat went to court Tuesday to demand a coroner 's inquest into his death , arguing that conflicting autopsy reports require a second look by authorities . Chevene King , a lawyer for the parents of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson , said he expected an inquest would find Johnson `` was the victim of foul play , '' not the accident that authorities in his south Georgia hometown have ruled . `` How could you , in the midst of all these questions , deny this family an opportunity to have an investigation into the cause and manner of their child 's death ? '' King asked . `` This is one way in which that investigation could be reopened . '' School attorney : Others in surveillance footage in gym mat death case . The Johnson family has asked Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson for an inquest before , in March . In May , after investigators closed the case , Watson had indicated he would be willing to hold one -- but he refused to discuss the issue in a recent interview with CNN , and there was no immediate response from Watson to Tuesday 's filing . King said he expects a judge to hear the request by October 30 . Kenneth Johnson told reporters that he expects a difficult fight , but added , `` Kendrick was my son . It ca n't be no harder than that . '' A state medical examiner ruled the high school athlete suffocated in January after getting stuck head-down in the gym mat . But his parents , Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson , disputed the findings and won a court order to have their son 's body exhumed for another autopsy . The private pathologist who conducted that autopsy in June found that Johnson had a blow to the right side of his neck `` consistent with inflicted injury . '' And in the process , he discovered that the teen 's body had been stuffed with newspaper after his internal organs were removed for the original autopsy -- a grisly find that only fueled the Johnson family 's suspicions about their son 's death . Parents want answers . In a coroner 's inquest , a jury hears evidence and determines whether a death was the result of natural causes , an accident , suicide or homicide . Another lawyer for the family , Benjamin Crump , said the proceeding is needed `` so this family can have some peace in knowing what happened to their child . '' `` This coroner has to consider witness testimony , video surveillance , in light of all the other things that are questionable about this to make not only the public have confidence in this finding , but this family to have some peace of knowing what really killed their child , '' Crump said . Authorities in Valdosta , about 230 miles south of Atlanta , say the case is closed . But the U.S. attorney for the district that includes the town has said he is reviewing the case and weighing whether to open his own investigation . Scene points to foul play . Friday , a lawyer for Lowndes County High School told CNN that surveillance footage from the gym shows other teens were inside around the time Johnson died . But the school has refused to release certain photos or video , citing state law that exempts the release of `` education records of a minor child . '' The Johnson family has called for that video to be released , and Crump said a coroner 's inquest may make that possible . `` If that video shows others in that gymnasium , as has been reported , then they have a right to have this coroner 's inquest , '' he said . `` It is right , and justice demands so . '' Autopsy shocker : Body stuffed with newspaper . CNN has now filed a motion to join a lawsuit by the family that seeks full access to the Lowndes County Sheriff 's Office 's investigative files in Johnson 's death . In the motion , the network asserts that under the Georgia Open Records Act , the `` public has a right to evaluate the sheriff 's conclusions , and further evaluate ... the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions . '' CNN is seeking the release of additional surveillance footage from the gym where Johnson was found dead , among other items . The sheriff 's office asserts that some items within the investigation were withheld or redacted to protect the privacy of minors or because they constituted school records . CNN 's Devon Sayers reported from Valdosta with Matt Smith in Atlanta .
Coroner should hold an inquest `` in the midst of all these questions , '' lawyer says . An inquest would show Kendrick Johnson fell victim to foul play , he says . The family has hired a private investigator and is considering suing police for wrongful death. A state medical examiner said he suffocated , and investigators called the death accidental .