Lawyer to ask for coroner's inquest into Ga. teen found dead in wrestling mat

VALDOSTA, Ga. - A lawyer for the family of a Georgia teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat at school says he plans to ask a judge to order a coroner's inquest in the case.

Benjamin Crump said he plans to file a motion in court Tuesday asking for the additional investigation into the cause of the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson.

Johnson, of Valdosta, was found dead Jan. 11. Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident. The sheriff's office declined to comment Tuesday on the motion for a coroner's inquest.

Crump, the Florida lawyer who helped push for a prosecution in Trayvon Martin's fatal shooting, said he believes the findings of an inquest would support the family's belief that Johnson's death was a homicide.