I think i killed my wife's mini

Do you have an OS X disc or the original discs that came with the computer that you can try and boot up from? If so, insert the disc upon powering up, after loading restart the mac and hold the "C" key down when you hear the chime until you see the spinning circle and see if it will load. It may take a few minutes longer than usual, but if it boots to the desktop screen it will help determine whether or not you have damaged something. Please repost if you were able to try this.

Best Buy geek squad might fix Macs. Try booting up the computer with out the hd plugged in. And then plugging it into the computer after it has booted up. I've found that unplugging the power from the computer for an hour or so and plugging it back in can sometimes magically fix some booting problems.