An inquest into the death of inmate Kinew James was adjourned Monday after her family and the Elizabeth Fry Society pushed to expand the inquest’s scope.

James, 35, died in January 2013 of an apparent heart attack after she was found unresponsive in her cell at the federal Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon. The inquest is meant to establish the circumstances of her death and could bring forward recommendations to prevent other deaths.

Her family and Elizabeth Fry, a group that advocates for women in the justice system, want the inquiry to examine more than just the days surrounding the death. They want the inquest to look at her incarceration history.

"Too often the manner in which people end up in the situation that Kinew did… cannot be examined only by looking at the few hours before they died," Kim Pate, the association’s executive director, told The Canadian Press prior to the inquest.

"The entire manner in which they were treated by the prison system is vitally important."

The Elizabeth Fry group was only recently granted standing in the inquest.

Nearly 14,000 documents were set to be taken into account at the inquiry, but the society submitted an additional 8,000 documents Monday, which prompted the coroner to adjourn.

The coroner said he would need hours to sift through the new documents to determine their relevancy.

“It’s to the coroner’s credit that he’s actually taking the time to consider this,” Pate said outside court.

James, an aboriginal woman, was serving an aggregate sentence of 15 years for manslaughter, assault, uttering threats and other charges — many of which happened after she was first sent to jail.

Pate told The Canadian Press that James' parents were residential school survivors and she was abandoned as a young child. She suffered sexual, physical and mental abuse growing up and spent most of her life in the child welfare and criminal justice systems.

She was a maximum security inmate, serving most of her time in segregation units.

According to a Board of Investigation report, James, who was diabetic, activated the emergency call alarm in her cell and told corrections staff that she was feeling sick and lethargic the night she died. Inmates have alleged that James was denied timely medical assistance.

The inquest will likely be rescheduled for the fall or early winter.