[O.o]

An update on my problem, I found a replacement to the entire front half of the device on auction and tried it out. Turns out my problem wasn't the LCD/digitizer but the circuitry controlling the bottom buttons (home, back, etc.).

I removed the ribbon cable first and transferred it to the "bad" front with no luck (screen still blank with backlight). When I replaced the bottom buttons with the replacement, magic happened. Everything is running smoothly now.

I wish I had found this out before I killed my original LCD/digitizer part. The "new" one has some bad scratches, and I'm not sure what to use to remove them.