Help Please Help! S4 screen not responding

[allecto13]

I am not well-versed in the depths of tech, what I am is frustrated, trying to apply for jobs, waiting for calls....
In using my phone this am, just checking fb and email, I went and touched an app icon - at that point, the phone froze, and would no longer respond. I didn't think much of it until I tried to turn off the screen, which resulted in nothing. Hard shutoff, restart, still won't work. Removed battery, let it cool off (figuring it had maybe gotten a bit too warm), nothing.
Now, I have restarted several times, and it will go to the home or lockscreen, but not respond when I touch or swipe. I have a vague memory of seeing my CM Virus software saying something last night, but I don't remember what. Phone has not given a minute of trouble up until today, in over a year of having it. I am freaking out a tiny bit, and my kids & dog would appreciate me not freaking out much longer. If anyone can talk a noob through trying to figure out how to pull a Lazarus on my phone without having to pack everyone up to head out of our rural digs to an ATT store, where they probably will just shrug anyway, I would love and appreciate the assist.

 

[Bg260]

Are you able to boot into safe mode or recovery? I may be able to help. What is the exact model?

 

[allecto13]

I found my way into the recovery log, at which point, nothing but a factory reset worked. Lost all contacts, thank god I'd backed everything else onto an sd card last week.
But now, the emojis are gone from my keyboard and I can't change the lockscreen image...little details like this are making me want to get an entirely different phone It's the sgh-I337 variant.

 

[Bg260]

Losing your contacts and data is better than having a bricked (nonfunctional) device. As far as the emojis, there are plenty of third party keyboards available. The AT&T variant is a great thing to have. You have an unlockable bootloader. Something I long for with my Verizon.