Why are there dead spots on my digitizer?

So this is what happened:

My son dropped the iPad and it shattered the digitizer. Great. So I order one from ebay and it looks fine except it doesn't have copper traces it looks like aluminum? Anyway, I like an idiot try to take the thing apart without putting packing tape on the screen and it's a mess. Glass shards everywhere, and by the time I get it off, I also managed to damage the LCD. Perfect. So I order a LCD from ebay as well. It arrives, and thanks to the great guides here I managed to piece everything together.

So I'm so happy I got this thing back together, but when I tried it out, there were dead spots in the corners... Really frustrating when trying to type. So I take it apart and notice the edge has a crack on it and the traces are black.

So I email the ebay vendor and they send me a new one. Awesome! Yesterday it arrived and after installing it, same thing! Dead spots in the exact same areas.

So here's my question: Am I installing it wrong? Is it because it's not a 'genuine' part that this is happening? Even without the digitizer in the enclosure, the dead spots are in the exact same areas. Am I dealing with a damaged logic board here? There's probably no way for me to fix the pins on those little headers without some special equipment.

I'm just wondering if I should shell out the cash and attempt to put a real, genuine OEM part in or if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Thanks for any advice, I'm at a loss here.

EDIT: ADDED PHOTOS